


Childhood's End

by Emeryss



Series: Haikyuu!! x Demon Slayer [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Character Death, Demon Slayer AU, Don't copy this to another site, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:27:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 33,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23812297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emeryss/pseuds/Emeryss
Summary: Hinata Shouyou is the eldest son and breadwinner of his family, and he would do anything for his family and his friendsBut that snowy day in the mountain changed everything
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou & Kageyama Tobio, Kageyama Tobio & Nishinoya Yuu, Kageyama Tobio & Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Kageyama Tobio & Ukai Ikkei, Kuzuri Michiko & Unnan Keisuke, Nakashima Takeru & Kawatabi Shunki, Nishinoya Yuu & Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Shirofuku Yukie & Suzumeda Kaori
Series: Haikyuu!! x Demon Slayer [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1715656
Comments: 35
Kudos: 43





	1. Cruelty

**Author's Note:**

> This is a lot different compared to my "Are they smart or is it just Volleyball?" series, but I hope you guys enjoy this series just as much!

A young boy wiped the sweat from his forehead, finally done packing his basket with coal. He huffed as he put the basket onto his back, the weight almost throwing him off balance.

“Careful there!” Shouyou felt two pairs of hands grab his haori, gently pulling his body upward. 

“Geez, there was a blizzard yesterday and you’re going down to the village?” Sekimukai Kouji sighed.

“Shouyou, are you heading down to the village?” His mother called out to him.

“Yes I am!” He replied cheerfully. “I want to make sure that everyone gets their fill for the New Year!”

“Be careful okay?” His mother wiped the coal dust off his face, adjusting the earrings he wore in the process. 

“Yes mom.” He smiled at her, until he felt a weight attach themselves to his waist. “Natsu?”

“I want to go with nii-chan!” She declared, but pouted when their mother said she couldn’t go.

Shouyou kneeled down and patted her head. “Nii-chan will bring back lots of yummy food okay?”

“Okay…” Natsu drew out.

Izumi Yukitaka gently nudged the younger Hinata. “Don’t you have something to show him?”

“Oh!” Natsu perked up, dashing back into the house, emerging with a wooden box. “Can you bring these to your friends please?” 

The older Hinata took the box, opening it to see two woven bracelets. “Wow, you’ve gotten so much better Natsu!” Shouyou praises his little sister, patting her head. “They’ll love this!”

“Why don’t you invite them to celebrate the New Year with us? They can watch you perform the  _ Dance of the Fire God _ again!” Yukitaka clapped his hands excitedly.

“Oh! Can we please invite them mom?” Shouyou and the other children’s eyes sparkled.

His mother chuckled at their silent pleads. “Of course you can invite them, now be on your way Shouyou.” His mother gently moved him so that he would make the long trip down the mountain.

“I’ll be back before sunset!” He waved as he followed the path down the mountain.

His mother, Yukitaka, and Kouji waved back, while Natsu cupped her hands around her mouth. “Be safe nii-chan!” 

  
  
  


Around early lunch time was when Hinata Shouyou arrived at the village at the foot of the mountain.

The butcher, Tashiro Hidemi, was not surprised to see the orange-haired boy come down from the mountain, but somewhat concerned since the holidays were coming up. “Shouyou-kun?”

“Oh? Tashiro-san, good afternoon!”

“Why’s a kid like you not taking the chance to rest with the New Year coming up?” Hidemi playfully slapped Shouyou’s arm. “I’ll buy some coal from you.”

“I thought you bought some from me yesterday?” Shouyou tilted his head.

“Never hurts on getting more coal.” The butcher grinned at him, but internally he wanted the young boy to be able to rest during this holiday.

“I’ll buy some from you too!”

“Me too!”

Many people caught on and eventually, Shouyou’s tightly packed basket was empty, and he had already bought the meat for his family. And then he remembered Natsu’s woven bracelet.

‘Where could he be?’ Shouyou thought to himself, quickly scurrying around the village to that person’s home. He made it in front of their house, seeing a note on the door. He took the note off the door and read it. “‘Death in the family, won’t be back until before the start of the New Year.’” Shouyou scratched his head, thinking of what to do now. He turned the note around, writing his own message on the back. 

‘To Kageyama Miwa and Tobio,

I’m sorry for your loss in the family. When you guys come back, you’re welcome to come and celebrate the New Year with us! We’ll have lots of yummy food, and I’ll be doing the  _ Dance of the Fire God _ this year! So please, don’t spend the beginning of your New Year sadly.

From, Hinata Shouyou’

Shouyou tucked the note under the door, and he saw the sun beginning to set. He made his way back to the mountain path, one last thought in his mind. 

‘I hope they come by.’

  
  
  


Tobio returned a day before the New Year, his sister staying behind with their other family to celebrate with them. He didn’t see the note until he was taking off his snowshoes.

‘Shouyou is doing the dance this year? Miwa is gonna be soooo upset.’ He grinned, finishing the note. The family had been friendly to the Kageyama siblings since they moved here. The entire village was kind to them, but the generosity and kindness of the Hinata household always astounded them. The sky was covered in clouds, but Tobio decided he was going to stop by the Hinata household. 

Although…

“Why does it feel colder than usual?” He thought to himself, trekking up the mountain path. His scarf was tightly wrapped around his head, and he took his grandfather’s haori and tightly pulled it over his body.

  
  
  


_ Crunch _

  
  
  


_ Crunch _

  
  
  


_ Crunch _

  
  
  


The silence was not helping and a sinking feeling filled his heart.

Until, he caught a whiff of a strange smell.

“This smell…” it caught him off guard, but then he realized what it was. 

Tobio sprinted all the way up the path, panting as he stopped in front of the house.

Two bloodied bodies were crumpled outside the house, a trail of blood streaking from the house. Even though his vision was fuzzy, Tobio could easily identify the bright orange hair of the Hinata family from an entire village over.

“SHOUYOU!! NATSU!!” Tobio shrieked as he ran over to their bloodied bodies. Their bodies were heavily mutilated, as though a wild animal had come in and attacked them during the night. But this smell was not an animal’s, nor was it a person’s. He cradled their bodies, desperately trying to find a pulse. He looked into the house, and his blood ran cold. Their mother, Yukitaka, and Kouji were laying around the home, their bodies bloodied, their eyes wide open, their jaws slack. 

Tobio trembled greatly. His attention was brought to the eldest son, a gentle beat was felt under Tobio’s fingertips. He wasted no time in placing Shouyou on his back, as well as grabbing the boy’s hatchet, and he quickly took the path down the mountain.

‘It couldn’t have been an animal that attacked them. An animal would’ve tried to drag one of them away, or even eat them.’

‘It couldn’t have been a person either, because everyone in the village is friendly with that family.’

‘The only left is,’ he shook his head. He did not want to believe it.

‘Why? Why did it have to be them?’ He panted as he slid down the snowy path.

‘Hinata-san is a kind mother who cared for her husband to the very end.’

‘Natsu is just a little girl, she’ll never get to grow up.’ 

‘Kouji and Yukitaka were abandoned by their parents, so they’ve always protected the children of our village.’

‘And Shouyou,’

‘He’s trudged down the mountain every single day,

‘From the time his father couldn’t work anymore

‘To when his family took in Kouji and Yukitaka,

‘They’ve never done anything wrong in their whole lives!’ 

‘So please, God, if you’re listening,’ 

‘I’m begging you,’

‘Please save Shouyou!’

Tobio panted as he had to readjust Shouyou’s weight.

“Geh--”

“Shouyou?” Tobio’s footsteps slowed down at the groan from the boy. “Don’t worry, I’m getting you to the village!”

“--Ugh--” The boy groaned as he began to struggle.

“Stop moving or else I’ll--”

“GraaaAAAAAAH--” Shouyou screamed and Tobio stopped entirely, shocked at the outcry.

“Shouyou??” They started wobbling and eventually Tobio lost his balance, falling off the path and down the steep slope. ‘Oh my god, we’re going to die!’

  
  
  


Tobio regained consciousness, and he realized he was laying flat.

‘The snow…’ He sat up gently, scanning the area. He spotted Shouyou standing a good distance away from him. “Shouyou? Are you alright?” He shakily stood up, and he thought he heard a growl. Although Tobio wanted to think it was the pain from the fall, Shouyou looked different. 

He warily picked up the hatchet laying in the snow, before approaching him. “Shouyou?”

Shouyou looked up at him suddenly, his eyes shining blood red. Tobio couldn’t even make out what happened next, as the other boy lunged at him and pushed him onto his back. The wind was knocked out of his body, and Shouyou was about to scratch him. Tobio took the hatchet and used the blunt side to hit Shouyou in the head. Which only made him more agitated. 

Shouyou growled as he bared his teeth, which looked like a predator’s fangs. The color left Tobio’s face, and he shoved the hatchet into his mouth. 

‘Even though I’m the bigger one, how are you so much stronger?!’ Tobio thought as he struggled to stop Shouyou from biting him. Tobio’s attention was caught as he heard bones cracking and realized, ‘he’s getting bigger?’

He didn’t want to believe it.

He really, absolutely did not want to believe what he was seeing.

But he could not deny what became of this boy.

“You’ve become a demon,” his voice cracked, his eyes watered. “You were forced to watch the ones you love fall, and eventually you were taken too.”

Tobio flinched as he felt the nails dig into his shoulders, but he did not stop speaking.

“It must have hurt, right? You must have been in so much pain, Shouyou.” He started crying as Shouyou’s eyes became more feral. 

He shouted as the other boy overwhelmed him. “Wake up!”

Shouyou gripped him even tighter, and Tobio felt his arms giving out. “Wake up!”

“You can do it,” it came out as a low whisper, but it changed something. With one final shout, Tobio gave one last scream. “Wake up, Shouyou!”

He panted heavily, his eyes tightly closed. But then he felt something warm on his cheeks. His eyes snapped open and above him, Shouyou was crying. Before he could realize what was going on, he felt another presence nearby. He looked over Shouyou’s shoulder and saw a dark figure flying towards them. He threw himself over Shouyou and they were sent flying into a nearby tree. 

‘What was that?’ He sat up quickly and looked at the dark figure. ‘Is that a person?’

Whoever it was, they stood up and turned around to look at the two of them. He had dark hair, dark eyes, and a stern face. His clothes were strange, a nearly black uniform under a black and yellow haori. He gave them a strange look. 

“Why are you protecting that demon?” His deep voice rang out in the empty forest. “I ask you, why are you protecting that demon?”

“He-He’s my friend.” Tobio shakily responded, but Shouyou began to struggle in his arms. “Shouyou!”

“Friend?” The stranger scoffed. “If that’s the case,” a sharp breeze made Tobio close his eyes, and when he opened his eyes he saw Shouyou being restrained by the stranger, “why was he trying to attack you earlier?”

When Tobio couldn’t produce an answer, the stranger went on. “My job is to slay demons. Regardless of how you feel, I will have to decapitate your friend.”

“But he hasn’t killed anyone yet! Whatever smell I found in his house was the one who killed his family!”

“He turned into a demon because he was exposed to a demon’s blood. Demons are man-eating monsters.”

“Shouyou would never eat a human! He’s kind, and he’s a great person!” Tobio shouted in retaliation. “He’d never hurt a living thing!”

“Your ‘friend’ is a demon. He’s no longer himself, he even tried to kill you,” the stranger responded in an agitated tone.

Tobio took a step forward. “He recognized me! I won’t let him hurt another person, and I-I,” he knew this was a bold statement, but he said it anyway, “I’ll turn him back into a human!”

“There is no going back. Once a person becomes a demon, they’ll never become a human again.”

“I’ll find a way! I’ll find and kill the person who did this to him! So please,” Tobio sank to his knees and bowed his head, “please, don’t kill him.”

The stranger grit his teeth tightly before glaring at Tobio. “Don’t ever give others the chance to kill you!”

“Eh?”

“If begging for your life worked every time, then your friend’s family would still be alive!” He shouted at Tobio’s despair. “How can I believe that someone as pathetic as you can even hope to save this boy? Kill a demon? That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in my entire life!

“Only the strong will reign, and the weak will fall to the strong! Yes, it may be possible to turn your friend back into a demon, but only the demons would know. But will a demon listen to someone who's kneeling on the ground?

“That being said, I will not listen to you either, because that is the truth of the situation!

“Why would you throw yourself over this boy’s body earlier? How is that ‘protecting’ him? You have a hatchet, and yet you showed your back to me! All of those actions led to your friend’s capture and I could have killed you both!”

Tobio’s body trembled as he listened to the stranger’s words and the tears continued to fall from his eyes.

‘Don’t cry. Right now, it isn’t the time to feel like that. Your friend’s family has been massacred and your friend has become a demon. 

‘It’s terrible, I know you want to scream. Believe me, I know. And if I had gotten here a day earlier, then maybe they all would’ve been alive. But what happened in the past cannot be changed.

‘Feel your anger, for that anger will drive you into the path you need to take. Those glass-like feelings will not become your resolve.’ The stranger lifted his sword and pointed it towards Shouyou, before plunging it into his chest. 

“STOP!!!” Tobio screeched as he picked up a nearby rock and pelted it at the stranger, before making a mad dash for the hatchet. The wind picked up once more and became his veil as he ran around the trees, throwing a rock at the stranger, who easily dodged it. Tobio screamed as he charged towards the stranger, his arms held behind him.

“You fool!” The stranger glowered as he hit Tobio with the hilt of his sword, effectively knocking him out. Shouyou’s eyes were wide as he stared at Tobio’s unconscious body in the snow. The stranger noticed that something was off. ‘Where is his hatchet?’ He looked up quickly and saw the hatchet flying towards his head, and he narrowly dodged the blow.

‘Just before he came charging at me, he threw both the rock and hatchet. His intention was not to attack me, but to distract me! He knew he would lose in a confrontation, so he had planned to take me out after I struck him. 

‘Just who is this kid?’ In the stranger’s deep thoughts, Shouyou broke free from his grip and kicked him. The stranger gasped as he saw the boy lunge for Tobio. But contrary to what the stranger thought, Shouyou took a protective stance in front of Tobio, baring his fangs at the stranger. The stranger’s eyes widened at the sight in front of him and readied himself as Shouyou went to attack him.

‘When a demon is turned, they are starving; they will devour anything nearby, whether it be strangers, their friends, or their family. Anyone in the Demon Slayer Corp can attest to that. But this boy, who was in a near-dying state when turned, and is most likely starved at this point, could’ve eaten his friend. And yet,

‘He protected him.’

The stranger sheathed his sword, making his decision, and he hit Shouyou on the neck.

  
  
  


_ We’re so sorry that we’re doing this to you, Tobio _

_ But please, _

_ Keep protecting Shouyou for us _

  
  
  


Tobio grabbed Shouyou’s kimono when he woke up, seeing a bamboo muzzle tied to his mouth.

“You’re awake.” Tobio looked over to see the stranger leaning against a tree, and he quickly brought Shouyou into his arms. “I should tell you now, but don’t ever let your friend go into sunlight. Sunlight is a demon’s true weakness.

“There is a man who lives at the foot of Mt. Sagiri, his name is Ukai Ikkei. If you truly wish to turn your friend back to a human, I recommend that you seek training to join the Demon Slayer Corp.”

Tobio almost couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but he nodded. “How can I thank you?”

“You don’t.” The stranger moved away from the tree and had his back turned to the two of them.

“Wait!” Tobio shouted. “Can I at least know your name?”

“Sakusa Kiyoomi,” the stranger answered, expression unknown. “You should get going now.” And the stranger vanished from Tobio’s vision.

  
  
  


The pair had returned to the Hinata household.

Tobio had his hands clasped together, his eyes closed, as he stood in front of the family’s makeshift graves.

Shouyou stood to the side, a neutral expression. 

Eventually, Tobio stood up and looked over at Shouyou. He adjusted the earrings that the boy always wore and took his hand. 

“Let’s go.”

The crunches of their footsteps filled Tobio’s ears. He looked back at the graves one more time, before he sprinted down the mountain, direction opposite from the village he grew to love.

  
  
  


Bonus:

  
  
  


“I’d like to buy this basket from you!”

“Sure, you don’t have to pay for it though.”

“No I’ll pay for it sir!”

“You really don’t have to!”

“TAKE MY MONEY!”

“WHAT THE HECK?!”

“HAVE A GOOD DAY SIR!”

“IT BURNS!”


	2. Mt. Sagiri

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is up my dudes? I don't really have much to say but I hope you guys are doing well and please enjoy the chapter!

The following weeks were covered in clouds, much to Tobio’s relief. But he knew that spring was coming soon, which meant the sun would soon come out.

Luckily, Tobio had a plan.

“I’d like to buy this basket from you sir.”

The farmer was having a normal day when this dark haired boy approached him out of the blue. “Sure, you don’t have to pay for it though.”

Tobio shook his head. “No, I’ll pay for it sir!” He pushed his coins toward the farmer.

“You really don’t have to!” The farmer shoved the strange boy’s hand back.

Tobio sighed in frustration, picking up the farmer’s hand and slapping the coins into it. “TAKE MY MONEY SIR.”

“WHAT THE HECK?”

Tobio picked up the old basket, sprinting off. “HAVE A GOOD DAY SIR!”

“OUCH!”

  
  
  


Tobio sat outside a small cave, fumbling with the bamboo around the basket. His current concern was that he hadn’t let Miwa or the villagers know he was still alive, but shook the thought when realizing that if he had gone back to the village before leaving, they would have seen what happened to Shouyou and tried to kill him. 

‘Is this enough to block out the sunlight?’ He looked at his handiwork, nodding to himself. He looked into the cave to check on Shouyou and panicked when he couldn’t see the smaller boy. “He’s gone!” 

Shouyou’s head popped up from a hole in the ground. 

“He’s there!” Tobio crawled into the cave, taking the basket with him. ‘Oh my god, he’s a mole.’

Shouyou warily hummed as he looked at the sunlight outside. 

‘He really wants to avoid the sunlight…’ Tobio thought warily. “Hey, can you fit into this basket?” Tobio pointed to the opening of the basket. He slowly repeated it. “Can you fit into this basket?”

Shouyou blankly stared at the basket, before attempting to fit into it. Unfortunately, he’s not as small as Tobio thought. 

‘His legs are sticking out of it.’ Tobio thought of how they could improvise, then he recalled the encounter in the forest. “Try shrinking Shouyou.”

“Mmmm?” Shouyou pulled his body from the basket.

“Get smaller Shouyou.” Tobio moved his hands in an inward motion. “Smaller.”

Once again, that blank stare. Shouyou moved back into the basket, and actually started growing smaller. Tobio looked in wonder as the tiny legs kicked the basket back up, his haori spilling over the edges. 

“Nice one.”

“Mm.”

Tobio began to wrap the haori around Shouyou’s body, checking for no exposure to the sun. After double checking by bringing it out of the cave, and wrapping another blanket around the basket, he picked it up and hoisted it onto his back. Tobio continued down the road, the new found weight slowing him down.

‘This isn’t bad, he’s been through way worse.’ Tobio thought to encourage himself. ‘Shouyou trekked down the mountain every single day, carrying weight that is heavier than this, and not once did he ever complain.’

  
  
  


When the sun had finally fallen under the horizon, Tobio was able to let Shouyou out of the basket and they followed the mountain path. The wind gently blew threw their hair as they stood in front of a temple.

‘There’s a strange smell again’ Tobio pinched his nose. ‘It’s not like the one at Shouyou’s home, but it’s very familiar nonetheless.’

Tobio carefully shuffled near the entrance of the home, Shouyou behind him. He opened the door, a familiar scene is laid out in front of him. Two dead bodies strewn around the room, but there was one more figure in the room. 

“Who the hell is there?” It groaned out, turning to look at the entrance. “Anyone who disturbs my feeding time can get their turn.”

‘Oh crap.’ Tobio thought, slowly stepping back. He pulled out the hatchet but the demon was faster and knocked it out of his hands. The demon tried to grab him and Tobio jumped to the side and looked for something to defend himself with. 

Shouyou on the other hand, was staring at the corpses in front of him, drool dripping from the muzzle. His fists were clenched.

The demon tackled him to the ground and Tobio struggled with all his might. He cackled as Tobio made a small noise in pain, and pressed his claws into his shoulders. “Little brat, this’ll be nice and slow!” 

In a last attempt, Tobio picked up a (sharp) rock and hit the demon in the head with it. The demon still had a grip on him, and Tobio looked for something else to use.

“Why you--!” 

“Ow!”

_ BAM _

“Huh?” Tobio’s eyes widened as he saw the demon’s head go flying into the distance, a loud crackle followed by a groan. “HUH?” He yelped as the headless body fell on top of him.

“Mm.” Standing next to the dark-haired boy was Shouyou, who had a sad look in his eyes, but was staring at him intently. Tobio’s eyes were brought to his bloody foot.

‘He kicked his head off?! What strength!’ Tobio thought as he used the demon’s obi belt to restrain the body. He and Shouyou dragged the body to the house’s entrance, before he remembered about the head. Tobio went and retrieved the hatchet and scanned the area for the demon’s head. 

“Stupid kids!” Tobio didn’t have to look too hard, as the demon’s head was lodged into the tree, screaming curse words at them. 

‘He’s talking?!’ 

“Bastards, I’ll get you for that one!” And the demon’s body broke free from the obi belt restrainer, and kicked Shouyou into the forest.

“Shouyou!” Tobio turned around and saw the body pursue the other boy.

“You’re too easy!” The demon, who sprouted arms from his head, crab-crawled towards Tobio at an alarmingly fast speed and leapt up to the hatchet. He bit the sharp end, and his hairs wrapped around the handle of the hatchet. “Gotcha now!”

Thinking quickly, Tobio took the demon and punched it as hard as he could, the hairs let go of his hand. Then he tossed the hatchet into the air, slapping the demon’s head and both demon and hatchet went flying into a tree. Tobio didn’t even bother to listen to the demon’s monologuing as he ran through the forests to look for Shouyou. 

“Mgh!” Shouyou was kicked into him when he reached a cliff, and Tobio glowered at the body in front of him. But to his surprise, Shouyou pushed him away as the body rushed towards them. 

“Leave him alone!” He roared as he tackled the body before realizing, ‘ _ Oh crap, I’m going over the cliff!’. _ Thankfully, he felt a tug grab his haori and Shouyou yanked him up. They peered over the edge to see the body at the bottom of the cliff, not regenerating any time soon. He carried Shouyou back to the temple and placed him in the basket, and walked over to the cursing demon head. 

‘Judging by its smell, it’s nowhere near as strong as that other demon’s scent.’ Tobio thought to himself. He grabbed a nearby rock and recalled Sakusa in the forest.  _ “I’ll have to decapitate your friend”.  _ “So destroying the head will kill the demon?”

‘This demon has killed other people, it's not like Shouyou. Remember, it’s not like Shouyou.’ He repeated that thought in his head, lifting the rock above his head. His form shook as he felt his heart shake. ‘It’s not like him Tobio!’ and he brought the rock down, blood splattering. He had not noticed a figure appearing behind him at all. 

‘This boy, his mind may be on the right path, but a moment of hesitation speaks a thousand words.’ Ukai Ikkei thought to himself. ‘Kiyoomi, what kind of potential did you see in this boy?’

Light began to flood the area, and Tobio looked to the sun peeking its head over the horizon. And then there was the smell of burning flesh.

‘The remnants of blood are burning away.’ Tobio looked at the blood evaporating off his clothes, and he could see another shadow as he glanced around. Turning around, he came face to face with a person in a Tengu mask. 

“I commend you for killing that demon,” the man said after a moment. He beckoned Tobio to follow him. “Come, help me bury the temple’s residents.”

Tobio could not help but wonder who this person was, as there was a weird smell coming off of him. It wasn’t the same as Sakusa, who smelled like a coming storm, because this man had the scent of rain. 

They stood in front of the graves and gave their prayers, before Tobio went inside to check on Shouyou. He lifted the blanket to see him sleeping.

“So this is the demon Kiyoomi wrote about.” Tobio jumped as he saw the stranger leaning over his shoulder. The man waved his hands when Tobio stood in front of the basket protectively. “My name is Ukai Ikkei. You are Kageyama Tobio, and one of my disciple’s companions recommended you.

“Follow me, and I will test you to see if you’re worthy of becoming a member of the Demon Slayer Corp.” Ukai turned around and walked out of the temple. Tobio quickly grabbed the basket and followed after him, and he jogged after him.

‘He’s so fast! Even though his hair is graying I’m struggling to keep up with him.’ Tobio thought as he trailed behind Ukai. ‘What kind of test is he giving me anyway?’

  
  
  


“Leave your friend here, and once you’ve done that we’ll head up the mountain.” Ukai could see Tobio’s wariness and reassured him that no harm would come to Shouyou. They trekked up the mountain and Tobio could feel the air becoming thinner and thinner. Once they reached a certain point, they stopped and Ukai turned around to look at him. “I’ve slayed every demon that would cross into this mountain. Your test is to make it down the mountain before sunrise. 

“If you don’t, then I will turn you away.” And like Sakusa, Ukai disappeared in the blink of an eye. 

“Okay, so I just have to get down the mountain then?” Tobio was cautious because the task sounded very easy, but there was something wrong. He took a few steps and tripped a rope trap, and was pelted by several pebbles. In a disorientated state, he fell into a pitfall. ‘So he’s set a bunch of traps that would delay me!’

Tobio felt his confidence waver, and he got up from the pitfall and immediately touched another rope. This time he was quick to move back, but he got hit by a swinging log trap. ‘If I keep running into traps like this, I’ll never make it down the mountain in time! And not to mention, the air is insanely thin up here! How the hell did Shouyou and his family survive up that mountain they lived in?’

‘No, don’t complain Tobio, suck it up! Complaining will get you nowhere in life. Focus and use your nose to sniff out the traps.’ Tobio steadied his heavy breathing, taking a deep inhale and finally letting the scent of the mountain come to him. Once becoming aware of the scent of the traps, he made his mad dash down the mountain. ‘Just because I’m aware of the traps does not mean I can suddenly overcome them! But that’s why I have to improve, I’ll make it down the mountain before dawn and I’ll become strong like Sakusa and Ukai!

‘Even if I’m tired, or if I’m exhausted, there’s someone who needs me!’ An image of Shouyou, Miwa, and the rest of the Kageyama family flashed through his mind. ‘I’ll become a Slayer to protect them, and I’ll protect Shouyou no matter what! That’s why--’

“No matter what, I’ll get down this mountain!” He declared and the moment of hesitation would never appear in his mind again.

  
  
  


Ukai was sitting in his house’s main room, in front of the hearth, when Tobio slammed the door open. He was covered in bruises, scratches, and probably some internal injuries, but his eyes screamed a new sense of will and desire that was far different compared to the same boy he met yesterday. Tobio quietly excused himself and pushed the door to the bedroom open and collapsed on top of Shouyou’s sleeping body on the futon. Ukai stood up from the hearth to look at him and Tobio had slung his body over Shouyou, also protecting him from the coming daylight. 

‘Many children who approached me in the past desired to join the Demon Slayer Corp. in order to obtain vengeance for their families and friends. But this boy, Tobio, who I thought was no different from the others, is so different from them. 

‘His wish, his goal, and his reasoning for joining the Corp. is what will push him past the others. And that is because,’ Ukai thought as he lifted Tobio’s body to a more comfortable position and closed the door, ‘vengeance is not what drives his heart, but love; love found in a friendship that I do not know of, but their actions speak a thousand words. 

‘Kiyoomi, this must have been what you saw.’

“Kageyama Tobio, I accept you as my student.”

  
  
  


Bonus:

  
  
  


Kageyama: Is this the part where we discuss ending notes from the recent episode?

Hinata: I think so, so let’s start, YOU’RE GOING TO BE TRAINING TO BECOME A DEMON SLAYER!

Kageyama: NOT THAT LOUD YOU DUMBASS! But I think it’s exciting anyway, but we need to share the Taisho secret.

Hinata: Right! Apparently the reason why Ukai-san where’s a mask is because demons would make fun of his face for how gentle it was.

Kageyama: I believe that’s all for this bonus, so stay tuned for the next chapter: Kentarou and Shigeru!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my biggest struggles is writing characters exactly like the Demon Slayer characters they represent, but right now I'm just taking note of their personalities and intensely rewatching the anime/rereading the manga to get a better grasp at the characters (although, Ukai Senior is really like Urokodaki-san so can I get a pass on that lol)
> 
> The next chapter will be finished shortly, so I'll see you guys in the next chapter! Buh-bye~


	3. Kentarou and Shigeru

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just out of curiosity, how many of you guys have seen/watched/read Demon Slayer/Kimetsu no Yaiba?

“The Demon Slayer Corp. has been around for several centuries, and it’s main goal is the extermination of the Demon race. It has several hundred members, but the higher-ups are careful of remaining in the shadows to avoid the government. As for the higher-ups, it is very rare for any normal slayer to meet them. But it seems you’re lucky to have met one of them.

“Demons have been around for longer, and it is unknown what their main goal is. They can regenerate injuries and lost limbs in the blink of an eye, and some have incredible powers. Their staple food is humans, and some of the strongest demons have eaten hundreds of humans. The only way to defeat them is to lure them into sunlight, or cut their heads off with a special sword.” Ukai lectured to Tobio that morning as they trekked up the mountain again. Tobio had a knack for learning things, so he was quite immersed in what Ukai was saying.

“So, why does the Corp. hide in the shadows rather than gain the support of the government?” Tobio questioned.

“That is because there are corrupt people who would make deals with the demons if they knew who to reach out to, or they could leak information about the Corp. that would kill us all.” Ukai and Tobio had reached the training grounds at that point and Ukai turned to Tobio. “I am a trainer. I’ve trained many swordsmen in my lifetime, and there are other trainers who teach different techniques compared to the ones I will teach you.

“In order for you to become a Demon Slayer, you must survive the Final Selection Process at Mt. Fujikasane. Whether you go or not is up to me, so train diligently.”

_ Entry #1 _

_ Starting from today, I will be keeping a journal. I’m going to be training and practicing my very best so that I may survive the final selection. _

_ Entry #?? _

_ Today, I descended the mountain again, like the past several days. Everyday I get better and better at avoiding all the traps Ukai-san has laid out. I’ve gotten stronger and my sense of smell has grown sharper in order to detect fainter traps, but the traps have gotten more difficult! Is he trying to kill me or something? _

_ Entry #?? _

_ Today, I had to descend the mountain with my sword. Trying to make sure it didn’t fall out of my hand while running was very difficult. With it in hand, I literally got caught in all of the traps!  _

_ After the descent, Ukai-san had me swing my sword 1500 times. Not just today, but every time I make the descent from the mountain I’ll swing until my arms fall off. Kazuyo-jii-san always made a point to practice and work hard, and I’ve always kept what he said to me close to my heart.  _

_ Entry #?? _

_ “Swords break very easily” is what he said today when teaching me how to use it. The swords the Demon Slayers use are strong vertically, but horizontally, they snap very easily. In order to prevent such a situation, the force needs to be applied along the straight of the blade. The direction of the blade and the direction of the force have to be the same, or else the sword won’t cut. _

_ Ukai-san also said that if the blade ever gets damaged, or breaks, he’ll snap my bones too. _

_ Entry #?? _

_ Today, I did nothing but fall. Ukai-san said that today I need to practice getting up from falling during battle. I had to charge at him like I was going to kill him, but on the other hand, Ukai-san did not wield a blade and he was still able to toss me around like he was nothing. Just how strong is he?! _

_ Entry #?? _

_ I’ve begun to learn Total Concentration Breathing, as well as the ten forms to the Breath of Water. Breathing is what helped the Demon Slayers go toe-to-toe with the demons in the first place, so I had to focus on taking long, deep breaths. But I got yelled at every time I forgot to brace my lower half for any impact, and Ukai-san would punch me in the stomach every time. _

_ Entry #?? _

_ Then, he told me to become one with water. HOW DOES THROWING A PERSON INTO A WATERFALL HELP WITH BECOMING ONE WITH WATER??? _

_ Entry #?? _

_ Today marks a half year since Shouyou last woke up. Ukai-san called in a doctor, but the doctor said that there was nothing physically wrong with him. Even though he’s a demon, it’s worrying to see him like this. I’m afraid that one day, I’ll come back to find him dead. Not a day goes by where I’m not worried. _

_ Entry #?? _

_ The descents have gotten more dangerous, and the air is thinner where I train. I always feel like I’m going to die, but I know that I’ve gotten stronger.  _

_ On this day, marks a year since I’ve arrived at Mt. Sagiri. Today, Ukai-san brought me to a giant boulder and said, _

“I have nothing left to teach you.” He said, when they reached the boulder. “Slice this boulder in half, and I will let you go to the Final Selection.”

Tobio looked at the massive rock. ‘You can slice a boulder?’ Although he promised himself that he wouldn’t hesitate anymore, he felt his confidence waver as he looked at the task in front of him. Ukai quietly left as Tobio thought to himself over what he would do.

Tobio gripped his sheath, drawing his sword out and attempting to strike the boulder. When it failed, he readied himself once more.

  
  
  


Every day since he stopped learning from Ukai-san, Tobio practiced everything that was taught to him with precision and diligence. However,

‘Why?’ The sword dropped from his hands as they were covered in bloody blisters, ‘Why is that even after half a year, I still can’t cut this boulder?

‘Am I not strong enough? What else can I do to improve?’

“What the hell is wrong with you?” A voice barked, but it wasn’t Ukai-san.

“—Who’s there?” Tobio immediately jumped up and looked around.

“Kneeling on the ground and despairing will get you nowhere in life.” Another voice called out from the forest around him, but it was much more gentle than the first one.

“I’ve done everything I can to improve, but I can’t anymore.” Tobio called out, looking for the sources of the voices. And then, ever so faintly, Tobio could hear feet touching the ground. Turning around, he sees another man wearing a fox mask. ‘His scent is hidden?! I couldn’t sense him at all until now!’

The figure rushed forward and wielded a wooden sword. Even though Tobio had the real sword, this strange person was pushing him back!

‘So strong! How much strength is he putting into his swings?’ Tobio gritted his teeth as he tried to hold his ground. ‘This-This is making my heart race!’

“Smiling? How arrogant of you.” The strange person growled, continuing to press forward. “Tell me, young boy, why do you think you can’t keep improving?”

Tobio blocked the next flurry of swings, eventually finding a way to adapt to the fight. “I’ve done everything that Ukai-san has taught me! But no matter how much I practice and repeat it, I still haven’t sliced the boulder!”

“No, you haven’t!” The strange person roared, and with a flick of his wrist sent Tobio flying back. “Your will and your sword lack resolve! You need to put your all into each slice, cut, and swing of your sword! You will never find satisfaction if you don’t put your all into your work! Now come forward, and show me your all!” 

Tobio, finally letting his frustrations run free, ran towards the strange person, his sword ready to strike. But as soon as he swung down, the strange person moved to the side and swung his sword upward. Tobio flew back, landing flat on his back. 

The stranger person relaxed and looked behind him, to someone else.

“I assume you’ll take over from here?” 

Emerging from the shadows was a young man with light hair and a fox mask decorating the side of his head. 

“Of course.”

  
  
  


Tobio woke up with a start and sat up quickly. He looked around and made eye contact with a young man who also had a fox mask.

“Are you okay?”

Tobio immediately recalled the fight he had before he was knocked out. “Did you see that man’s form?! That was the most beautiful form I’ve ever seen in a swordsman. Not a single second was wasted and he found every window to use brute force!”

The other man made a face as Tobio started fawning over his comrade.

‘Ugh, this became ten times more unbearable than I thought.’

  
  
  


Tobio eventually learned that the men, or should he say, boys he met were in fact, disciples of Ukai-san. The boy who was there when he woke up introduced himself as Shigeru.

“That runt you fought earlier, his name is Kentarou.” Shigeru mentioned, a dark expression on his face. Tobio later learned that Shigeru holds Kentarou with very high regard, contrary to his facial expressions. 

As soon as Shigeru started helping Tobio with his training, Tobio realized all the things he needed to improve on. His form, his breathing, all the teachings he had learned, were being reformed under Shigeru’s careful teaching; even his understanding of the need for breaths shifted thanks to Shigeru’s explanations. 

‘Total concentration breathing helps the body’s blood flow faster. Demons are supernatural, so they don’t have to worry about losing their bodies. Humans, on the other hand, are fragile and we have to be careful of our bodies. By using total concentration breathing, the blood flows faster and the muscles and nerves in our body will speed up growth in order to catch up to the sudden blood flow.’ Tobio wrote that into his journal that evening.

“Kentarou and I love Ukai-san very much.” Is a common phrase Tobio would hear when he asked Shigeru about their relationship with Ukai. “There are others here, but they don’t want to see you yet.”

Tobio couldn’t help but feel confused every time Shigeru talked. His way of speaking was not like others, and he had a dreamy way of speaking; which heavily contrasted Kentarou.

“Hey. You’re not giving up so easily now are you?” His way of speaking was rough, and he was incredibly aggressive. Tobio found Kentarou incredibly difficult to fight against, his aggression mixed with his expert-leveled skills was a sour mix.

It wasn’t until that snowy day, six months later, where he challenged Kentarou.

  
  
  


Tobio’s long hair flew in the wind gently, his sword ready.

  
  
  


Kentarou, on the other hand, had a real sword, and he too, was ready.

  
  
  


Shigeru settled the conditions for the match. “One decisive strike.”

The silence was deafening, but the clap of Shigeru’s hands was louder.

  
  
  


It happened so quickly, but so slowly. 

  
  
  


Kentarou, who had beaten Tobio for the last six months, and Shigeru, who watched over Tobio for the last six months, were not surprised by the outcome.

  
  
  


Tobio claimed the first strike, cutting Kentarou’s mask in half.

  
  
  


‘Even if it was absurd, my nose was able to sniff out a moment where Kentarou was most exposed. Like a thread connecting from the tip of my sword to his mask, it was like fate.’ Tobio thought to himself, in utter disbelief. 

  
  
  


As his mask fell from his face, Kentarou relaxed his position. His face was as scary as his voice, and yet…

  
  
  


‘Kentarou smiled.’

  
  
  


“You did well, Tobio.” Those were the last words Kentarou said to him, before the mist thickened around them.

“Wait a minute.”

“There’s no need to wait anymore, Tobio.” Tobio looked over to Shigeru, who faded into the mist as well. “Come back from the Final Selection for us, okay?”

The mist left as quickly as it came and Tobio was able to look in front of him, gasping at the sight in front of him.

  
  
  


In Kentarou’s place, was the giant boulder; a clean slice down the center.

  
  
  


Bonus:

  
  
  


Kageyama: Time for the ending notes, hm?

Hinata: Mm. That’s incredible how you were able to slice that boulder!

Kageyama: I honestly can’t believe it myself, but really it’s because of Kentarou and Shigeru that I could do it.

Hinata: And now it’s time for the Taisho secret! Shigeru really likes girls, but has a hard time approaching them and oftentimes embarrassed himself in the process!

Kageyama: I believe Kentarou told us that one, but stay tuned for the next chapter: The Final Selection! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey hey! Just wondering but do you guys want Tobio to keep his long hair or keep it short? 
> 
> (Don't take my opinion into account, but I think he'd look cool with long hair)


	4. The Final Selection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe, I got the chapter done early so here you go! 
> 
> Warning: I'm using foul language and cuss words this chapter

“So you’ve done it.”

Tobio looked behind him to see Ukai-san. “Ukai-san…”

“You’ve done well, Tobio,” Ukai approached him, reaching up to pat Tobio’s head. “I’m so proud of you.”

_ “I’m so proud of you.” _

Those words, for reasons unknown to him at the time, affected him more than he thought. Tears welled up in Tobio’s eyes and he hunched over, letting all his pent-up emotions run free. Ukai took his head and gently placed it on his shoulder, petting his head as Tobio wept.

  
  
  


Tobio rested up for the next few days and Ukai told him everything he needed to know about the Final Selection the night before he left.

“Tobio, I’m sorry to be honest with you, but I was not going to let you go to the Final Selection.” Tobio’s eyes widened in shock as he listened to Ukai. “I’ve had many promising students enter, but only two have returned back. I… did not want to send anymore children to their deaths.” 

Tobio stayed quiet, thinking of what Shigeru told him, and tried to ease Ukai’s anxiety. “I promise I’ll come back alive sir. If I don’t, Shouyou would be very lonely.”

Ukai’s head was in his direction and Tobio wasn’t sure what kind of expression he had. “I know you’ll survive Tobio, you’ve grown a lot since I met you two years ago. Dinner is ready, by the way.”

He scooted over to the hearth and awed at all the food being cooked. “What’s all this food for Ukai-san?”

“Young people like you need a lot of energy, so tonight, I’ve prepared a hearty meal for you before you leave tomorrow.”

Tobio gave a big smile and thanked Ukai as he took the bowl from his hands. “This is incredible Ukai-san!”

Ukai hummed quietly, watching Tobio happily eat. ‘You’ve trained hard for the last two years, and if you pass, your life will never be peaceful again. But tonight, relax, and rest without a care in the world.’

  
  
  


The next morning, Tobio put on the clothes Ukai prepared for him, doing some last adjustments before Ukai approached him. 

He handed him a fox mask with a unique design on it. “This mask is imbued with warding spells to protect you from danger. All of my students had these masks, and the two students that made it still wear theirs.”

The fox mask Tobio was given had white pupils with a black sclera, orange accenting the eyes, dark blue ears and downward marks on the cheeks. Tobio awed at the detail put into the mask, and he recognized the smell as something similar to Ukai’s mask. 

The two walked outside, the sun shining brightly down onto them. “Your journey to Mt. Fujikasane will be a short one, as all the trainers reside close by. But do not underestimate or let your guard down, even for a second, while you make your way, or when you’re in the exam process.” Ukai patted Tobio on the back. “Your friend and 

“Thank you for everything, Ukai-san!” Tobio bowed before turning around and making his way down Mt. Sagiri. He stopped and turned around for a quick second. “Tell Kentarou and Shigeru I said hello!” And with that, he scurried off.

Ukai on the other hand, stopped waving. 

‘Tobio, how do you know the names of those dead children?’

  
  
  


By nightfall, Tobio had made it to an area completely filled with purple flowers.

‘How beautiful.’ He thought, gently touching the petals. ‘I’ll have to bring Shouyou here one day.’

He saw a large flight of stairs and at the top were many other teenagers like him. A lot of them were roughed up, scars telling their stories, while others appeared more put together, waiting for the process to begin. 

“Hello everyone.” Everyone’s attention was brought to the front where three boys stood. Two of them had hair pieces to the left of their head, but the one in the middle had the hair piece to the right side of his head. “Welcome to the Final Selection, and we congratulate all who have come this far.”

The one to the right spoke separately this time, and he had a shaved head, which made Tobio wonder how the hair piece was able to stay on his head. “The flowers surrounding us are known as Wisteria flowers, and they bloom year-round. But demons highly detest these flowers, henceforth why we utilize them to this extent.”

‘Probably should not bring Shouyou around then.’

The boy to the left spoke. “Past the Wisteria flowers is where the exam will take place. Many demons have been captured and kept within this mountain for the purpose of this exam.”

And, on cue, the boy in the center immediately followed up. “Your task is to survive seven days and seven nights within this mountain, but if every single demon is slayed before the end, the exam will end.”

“Good luck.” All three boys bowed and everyone readied themselves to move out.

Tobio took a deep breath and followed everyone out.

  
  
  


Running through the forests, Tobio came up with a plan.

‘During the day, I’ll scavenge for food and rest; but during the night, I’ll have to survive against the demons. Be confident Tobio, you can do it!’

All of a sudden, a new scent flowed into Tobio’s nose. He jumped back as a demon leapt out of the woods, and the demon growled at the site of him. Tobio had his sword ready when another demon tackled it. 

_ “Demons, unlike humans, will never join forces. All forms of rationality vanish as soon as they turn, and eventually you’ll see it when you’re deployed in the forces.” _

“Beat it asshole!”

“He’s my prey, shithead!”

The demons were screaming and attacking each other, completely ignoring Tobio. ‘Maybe I can ask them if there’s a way for a demon to turn human again?’

“Screw it! Whoever kills the kid first gets him!” And with that, both demons turned their attention to Tobio and sped towards him.

‘The one to the left is coming faster, but the one on the right is going to strike first.’ Tobio analyzed and slid under the demons turning around and readying an attack. ‘Focus your breathing Tobio, you’ve finally gotten here. Don’t lose now!’

With a deep breath, he saw the opening thread and charged towards the demons who were flying back at him. ‘Breath of Water, Fourth Form: Striking Tide!’ 

Maneuvering through the air, Tobio sliced off their heads and gracefully landed on the ground. He could smell their bodies burning as he turned around to look at them. He brought his hands together. ‘Rest in peace.’

That moment did not last long as a wretched stench filled the air.

‘What is that awful smell?!’ Tobio pinched his nose and scanned the area, but then a large stomp made the area tremble. His eyes widened at the sight of a monstrous demon and he hid behind a tree, panting. He carefully looked past the tree and saw the demon stomping down the forest, while another exam taker sprinted away. 

“What the hell is that thing? No one told a demon that strong would be here!” The boy shrieked and he tripped over a tree root. The demon had many arms surrounding its body, but one shot out and grabbed the boy.

Tobio lept out from his spot. ‘Breath of Water, Second Form: Water Wheel!’ His body rotated with his sword in a vertical spin, slicing through the demon’s arm. Stopping his body at a tree, he turned around and grabbed the boy. “Are you okay?”

“Oh? Another little fox has finally come back to me?” The demon cackled as he noticed the fox mask on Tobio’s head. “Tell me, little fox, what year of the Meiji period are we in now?”

Tobio stood in front of the boy, his sword pointed at the demon. “We’re in the Taisho period now!”

“Taisho…?” Lifting his fingers up, the demon counted before he started hysterically screaming. “GRAAAAAA--I’VE BEEN TRAPPED HERE INTO ANOTHER PERIOD, CURSE YOU UKAI, CURSE YOU!

“That old bastard caught me during the Edo period, and ever since then, I’VE BEEN TRAPPED HERE!”

“That’s impossible! No demon could ever survive for that long on this mountain without any resources!” The boy yelled in retaliation.

The demon clicked his tongue. “But I have! I’ve eaten fifty of you brats and many other demons in order to preserve my life. And now that I’ve seen you, you will be the twentieth!”

“Can you not count?” Tobio muttered under his breath.

“I wonder how Ukai will react when another one of his kids doesn’t come home? Oh if only I could escape to kill the other two.” The demon pondered aloud, and Tobio felt his heart drop at the realization. “I made it my own revenge to make sure that none of Ukai’s kids would return from here.”

_ “I...did not want to send anymore children to their deaths.” _

“It’s the masks, it’s the same material that Ukai’s mask is made of.” The demon pointed at the fox mask. “How funny! The item that he made to protect his students is the reason why they’re all dead!”

Having enough, Tobio charged at the demon, screaming.

_ “Calm down Tobio, your blade is losing conviction.” _

The demon was gleeful, as Tobio sliced the coming arms. “Other than those two brats who escaped, there were two more that could’ve gone far.

“A boy with blond hair and another with silver hair. That silver-haired one cried out in anger when I told him everything, but he got distracted and I tore him apart, limb by limb, before eating him!”

Tobio’s emotions were easily pricked by this demon, and he could not think of anything but those two boys in the mountain. He lost track of the demon’s arms, and did not notice the one creeping behind him.

_ “You have to forget about us, Tobio, focus on the battle!” _

“That blond boy was with him too. I thought the two weren’t close, so I tried to pin them against each other during the duration of the exam. They almost beat me, until that other boy lost it. My neck is very strong, as you can see, so when the surviving student tried to cut my head off, his sword snapped in half! I got to crush his head and of course, you know how the rest could’ve gone?”

Tobio got hit in the back and was sent flying into a tree. The impact knocked him out cold and he lay on the ground, the demon closing in on him.

“Oh how I wish I could see Ukai’s face when one of his kids fails to come home again!”

  
  
  


_ “--bio!” _

_ “--Tobio!” _

_ “Tobio!” _

  
  
  


Tobio gasped as he regained consciousness and quickly moved away from the demon. 

‘I got too worked up! Fu--calm down Tobio!’ He slapped himself as the demon recovered from his shock.

“The struggle is what makes the kill all the more satisfying.” And the hands combined into one massive fist. 

‘There’s a smell coming from the ground too!’ Tobio used the force of the rising hands to propel himself into the air. 

‘He dodged the hands? That’s no matter, he can’t dodge an attack in the air!’ The giant fist was about to punch Tobio, but to the demon’s surprise, Tobio swapped his sword and put it into his left hand. With his free right hand, he swung it back and slammed the fist into the ground, running up the arm to reach the demon. ‘What the hell is this kid even thinking?’

‘Focus your breathing, I can see the thread, but it still hasn’t tightened yet!’ The demon produced more arms to stop him and trusting his instincts, Tobio continued to hold off the onslaught until he saw the thread tighten. ‘There! Let’s do this!’

‘I can’t free my arm fast enough, but my neck is tougher than his sword.’ The demon narrowed his eyes as Tobio flew towards him. ‘And when his sword breaks, I’ll crush his head just like that angry mutt!’

Tobio roared, and with all his might, cut through the demon’s neck.

‘Breath of Water, First Form: Water Surface Slash!’

  
  
  


_ No way. _

_ No way. _

_ There’s absolutely no way that brat sliced my neck! _

_ How? How did this happen? _

_ This brat who didn’t seem as strong as the two who escaped from my grasp, or the ones who were actually close to killing me. _

_ How did it come to this? _

_ …  _

_ … _

_ … _

_ “Where did you go? Yuzuru-san?” _

_ “I’m so sorry, Yuzuru-san.” _

_ “Please, come back.” _

_ …  _

_ …  _

_ … _

_ Whose Yuzuru? _

  
  
  


The demon’s body disintegrated and Tobio turned to look at the outstretched hand.

‘This demon killed many people...but this smell is so sorrowful.’

Tobio took the hand, which gently squeezed back. Somewhere behind him, the demon head was crying as it continued to fly away in the wind.

‘God, if you’re listening, in this person’s next life, don’t let them turn into a demon again.’

  
  
  


_ A figure in the distance appeared in the distance. I started sprinting as fast as I could towards the figure, reaching my arm as far as I could reach. _

_ “Yuzuru-san! Wait for me!” _

_ “Hm? Yuudai? What was taking you so long?” _

  
  
  


The rest of the body vanished and Tobio felt a heavy weight lift.

‘Kentarou...Shigeru...and everyone else,

‘You can finally go back home now, back to the mountain where you grew up.

‘Back to Ukai-san, who you love so much.’

  
  
  


_ “Thank you Tobio, thank you for everything.” _

  
  
  


The rest of the night went by quickly, and Tobio tended to his wounds the following morning.

The following several nights of the exam, Tobio had spent asking every single demon if there was a way to turn them back.

But no demon would even hold a conversation with him.

Seven days and seven nights passed, and with utter relief, Tobio survived the selection.

He glanced around the area where all the other takers had gathered. ‘There were at least twenty of us, but now, there’s only four!’

“Congratulations, to our newest members of the Demon Slayer Corp.” The three boys appeared in front of them again. “Now that you are officially a part of our forces, we will go over the various ranks, processes, and gathering of your equipment.”

The boy in the center introduced himself. “My name is Ennoshita Chikara, and I am one of the commanding operatives of the force. I will be going over the various rules of the Corp. First, there are ten ranks within the Corps’ forces. At the bottom is Mizunoto, then mizunoe, kanoto, kanoe, tsuchinoto, tsuchinoe, hinoto, hinoe, kinoto, and the highest rank, kinoe.”

“As of now, all of you are mizunoto. Whether you climb up the ranks or stay within this rank is up to you. Now, we give you your messenger crows.” Chikara clapped his hands together, and suddenly crows were flying all around them. Tobio lifted his arm for his crow to perch onto and looked back at the front. “These crows are how we communicate with you, and fifteen days after you return home, we will present your first assignment.”

“Um-excuse me.” Everyone turned their attention to a freckled boy, who sheepishly lifted his arm, presenting a tiny sparrow. “This isn’t a crow.”

“That sparrow is a special case, Chuuntarou passed the exam to become a messenger crow and is qualified.” Chikara chuckled, and gestured for the boy on the left to introduce himself.

“My name is Kinoshita Hisashi, and I will be taking your measurements for your uniforms.” He pulled a long measuring tape from his kimono sleeve and approached each of them. When he reached the only girl of the group, he asked her what kind of bottom she desired for her uniform.

She simply pulled out a coin from her robe and flicked it into the air. What side it landed on, they all had no clue. “I’d like a long skirt please.”

Hisashi nodded and completed the rest of the measurement, before excusing himself to fill out the paperwork.

“My name is Narita Kazuhito, and I will be presenting all of you with the materials needed for your sword, as well as some questions regarding your preferred style.” 

“Preferred style? So not everyone in the Corp wields a katana-type blade?” A blond boy with glasses questioned.

“Yes, some of our kinoe wield various types of swords. One example would be Bokuto Koutarou, who utilizes two large nichirin blades for his unique Breath, the Breath of Sound.” Kazuhito answered patiently, before going on to explain the Demon Slayer swords. “The ore is created from Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand and Scarlet Crimson Ore, two materials that are able to absorb extreme amounts of sunlight before they are crafted into the blades. The Demon Slayer sword is unique as it is known as a Nichirin blade, or the Color-Changing Sword.” He beckoned them towards a clothed table and pulled off the cover to reveal several different ores. “Please select the ore you would like to use in your blade.”

The four of them just stared at the ores in front of them, unsure of what to pick.

“They all look exactly the same.” The freckled boy whispered. “Is there really a way to tell the difference?”

Tobio felt the same, but then he caught a whiff of one of the ores. He stepped forward and reached out for the ore that would become his nichirin blade.

  
  
  


Tobio leaned on a walking stick as he limped his way home.

‘This bag is so heavy. My sword feels so heavy.’ He thought to himself as he stared at the ground in front of him. Tobio collapsed onto the ground, the pain and aches from the exam finally reaching his muscles. ‘I have to get up, Shouyou and Ukai-san are waiting for me to get back.’ He shakily lifted himself from the ground, and continued on the path back to Mt. Sagiri. 

‘Shouyou, I finally became a Demon Slayer. I can finally go and look for the person who did this to you, and we can find a way to turn you back.’

Night had fallen when Tobio reached Ukai’s home.

“I’m back home, Ukai-san, Shouyou.”

_ BAM _

Tobio gasped as the door to the house was kicked down, and out walked Shouyou, awake for the first time in two years.

“Oh my god--Shouyou!” The boy looked over at him, and Tobio slid down the path as he limped over to him. He fell to the ground, but Shouyou was already in front of him and hugged him. Tobio felt a wave of relief crash onto him as he grasped Shouyou’s haori, crying into it. “Thank god you’re awake! You dumbass, do you have any idea how worried I was for the last two years?”

  
  
  


Ukai had returned from the mountain, a pile of firewood in his hands, when he heard crying. He couldn’t believe his eyes for the life of him, as he saw Tobio and Shouyou, both alive and well. 

He dropped the firewood and wrapped his arms around the both of them. With tears running from his eyes, he got to say the words he’d always wanted to say again.

_ “You’re alive.” _

  
  
  


Bonus:

  
  
  


Hinata: Water Surface Slash! Striking Tide! Water Wheel!

Kageyama: Wh-Why are you repeating those you dumbass?

Hinata: Because you were so cool out there! Going shwoo and fuwaa and ching! You were so awesome out there!

Kageyama: You’re so embarrassing. But it’s time to share the Taisho secret! The two students that survived the hand demon are both active in the force, and one is the Water Pillar!

Hinata: Isn’t the name of the Water Pillar Ki--

Kageyama: THAT’S A SPOILER YOU DUMBASS! Catch us in the next chapter, The Hinokami Dancer!

Hinata: THAT’S UNFAIR, I LET YOU HAVE THE TAISHO SECRET THIS WEEK!

Kageyama: WELL MAYBE THAT WOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU DIDN’T ALMOST SPOIL ONE OF THE PILLARS!

  
Hinata: BUT DIDN'T WE JUST REVEAL ANOTHER PILLAR?  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to imagine that drum noise after the end of every bonus segment like in the anime
> 
> Yeaaaaaa, that's a wrap on the first five episodes of Demon Slayer! Kageyama is officially a Demon Slayer and Hinata is finally awake! And now we have a name for one of our pillars, our dearest Bokuto Koutarou (heehee).
> 
> But I wonder, who is the Water Pillar if their name starts with Ki--? ;)


	5. The Hinokami Dancer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is very soft and indulgent, I had lots of fun writing this one. So please enjoy this super early update and I will be updating again on Saturday!

The morning following his return, Tobio sat with Ukai and told him everything. Meeting Kentarou and Shigeru, learning how to fight because of them, and meeting the demon that killed the other students.

“Even though I wasn’t there to witness it, I believe you did a splendid job out there. Thank you for freeing those children, Tobio.” Ukai said to him, before dismissing him to spend time with Shouyou. Tobio couldn’t see it, but he could smell relief from his mentor as he turned away from him. 

The next few days as Tobio recovered from the exam, he had a lot of time to think to himself. Too much time to himself, he began to think after a while. 

Over two years ago he arrived at Mt. Sagiri, and before that, his world collapsed that snowy day.

Over the several days Tobio had to be in bed rest, Shouyou, the kind boy he’s always been, stayed by his side and listened to Tobio babble about all the precious memories he’s made, as well as the children in the mountain.

“You would’ve been such good friends with Kentarou and Shigeru.” Tobio sadly looked at Shouyou, who pet his head in return. 

When Tobio was finally able to get up on his own, they went through his journals that held all the forgotten moments from his intense training. “To think that I wasn’t able to even breathe correctly back then, I’ve changed a lot.” Tobio leaned back against the wall and huffed, looking at Shouyou, who was a slug under the blankets. “You also seem different too, Shouyou.” 

Shouyou just closed his eyes and hummed happily in response. 

Tobio had a small smile on his face, putting the journal down. ‘I’m not sure how I didn’t notice this before, but Shouyou has a different scent now. For a while, he had a smell that was similar to whatever demon attacked his home; but now, Shouyou doesn’t have that smell at all.’ Tobio pondered over what smell he had now, but then Shouyou slipped under the blanket completely. He heard the door to the house open and Tobio opened the door. “Ukai-san, is that you?”

Instead, there was a man wearing a fox mask

“...”

“...” 

He just stared at him before Tobio slowly closed the door. 

Unfortunately the intruder yanked the door back open and Tobio fell onto his back, legs flailing in the air.

“Are you Tobio?” The man leaned over the door frame and into the room. “It’s so nice to meet you!”

“Motoya.” Ukai’s voice rang out from behind him and the man was pulled back by his haori. “You’re scaring him.”

“It’s alright.” Tobio was sitting normally this time, but in front of Shouyou, who had shrunk to conceal himself better. “Who is this Ukai-san?”

“Woah did Ukai never talk about us?” Motoya brought his hand to his face. “I’m kind of hurt.”

“Motoya.”

“Sorry Ukai.” Motoya laughed and squatted in front of Tobio. “I’m one of Ukai’s students, if you can’t tell with the fox mask.”

Tobio blinked. ‘That demon did mention how two of Ukai-san’s students escaped from him.’

“My name is Komori Motoya, nice to meet you.” Motoya reached up and took off his mask, giving a big grin. He reached his hand out and Tobio took it to shake.

“Kageyama Tobio, nice to meet you Komori-san.”

Motoya waved his hand. “You can call me Motoya, Tobio.”

“Ah is that so?” Tobio replied uneasily.

“You sure can!” Motoya cheerfully replied before he stood up. Tobio stood up as well and he stared  **up** at him. “What kind of food were you feeding him?”

“I usually ate rice and whatever fish I caught that day.”

“What kind of joke is this?” Motoya clutched his chest, but he was smiling. “I thought we were tall, but here comes this tree!”

“I’m...sorry?” Tobio quirked his head in confusion.

Ukai was patting Motoya on the back. “Forgive his intrusion, Tobio, he usually comes around after the Final Selection.”

“Is that so? What kind of work have you been doing Motoya-san?” Tobio stared at Motoya. 

“Quick question I see.” Motoya grinned. “I’ve been in the forces for six years now.”

“Can you teach me Motoya-san?” Tobio’s eyes sparkled. “To get tips from my senior would be the greatest thing I could ask for!”

“Wow he’s too adorable Ukai. How can I decline the wish of my junior?”

“Tobio you’re still injured from the exam.” Ukai intervened and the two made a sad whine.

“I’ll show him a few things?” Motoya attempted. “Please?”

Ukai sighed and relented, while the other two cheered.

Through all the ruckus Shouyou grew back to a normal size and peeked out from under the blanket. His eyes peered up at Motoya, and a single coherent thought was formed.

  
  
  


The sun had fallen under the horizon when Shouyou came out of the room for the first time. Motoya had already left, much to his sadness, but Tobio and Ukai were happy to see him again.

“Good evening Shouyou.” Ukai lifted a hand and waved at him.

“Mm!” Although he couldn’t produce coherent words, Shouyou was already a very expressive person. Shouyou tugged at Tobio’s haori, who was polishing his fox mask. Pointing to the door, Shouyou continued to tug at his haori. “Mm mm!”

“You want to go outside?” 

Shouyou nodded, and beamed as Tobio got up. As soon as he got his sandals on, Shouyou dragged him outside and went up the mountain path. 

(Ukai in the back. “Youth these days.”)

“Woah what are we doing Shouyou?” Tobio called out and looked around to see where they were going. He yelled in resistance as Shouyou decided to piggyback him the rest of the way. Shouyou, with his supernatural powers, jumped as high as he could and they landed in the bamboo forest. ‘I know I keep forgetting he’s a demon, but the strength he has now is terrifying!’

Shouyou let Tobio fall from his back and he started running his hands around the bamboo forest. He looked over to see Tobio kneeling on the ground, and once he finished running his hands around the bamboo, Shouyou pulled out the temporary sword Tobio wielded.

“What are you doing?” Tobio shifted to sit on the ground, watching Shouyou pull the sword out of the scabbard and place the scabbard near Tobio. He was very confused when Shouyou removed the muzzle. “Shouyou?”

Shouyou’s lip quirked into a smile and he moved to the center of the bamboo circle. With a deep breath, Shouyou started dancing.

_ “When I perform the Dance of the Fire God, I feel free." _

Each footstep was met with elegance.

Each swing was met with precision.

Each step brought back a memory.

_ “Tobio, look at Shouyou. Look at him dancing the Dance of the Fire God.” _

Tobio felt his mind and heart boggle as he watched Shouyou perform the Dance of the Fire God. It’s been years since he was able to see the dance again, but it was a kind reminder of the past. That snowy day when he raced Miwa and his grandfather up the mountain trail to their home, to see the torch circle set up and the residence of the Hinata household bustling for the New Year. That first time he ever saw Shouyou dance, it was magical. He had stayed up the entire night just to watch and was the first person by his side after he finished. The Hinokami attire covered his face, but the bags under his eyes and the calluses on his hands and feet told a different story. 

Two years had passed since they left their cozy lives in the mountains.

Those torches have probably decayed because they haven’t been cared for. The house is probably dusted from the lack of people living within it. The Hinokami attire has probably molded since no one can clean it. 

Tobio shook his head violently as the gloomy thoughts invaded through. He focused on the dance and all the fond memories that were with it. He applauded as Shouyou stopped and he bowed. He beckoned Tobio over, who hesitantly complied..

“What is it?” 

Shouyou pointed at his chest and started breathing. Tobio was perplexed at what was happening, but started breathing nonetheless. Shouyou placed his hand on Tobio’s abdomen, applying pressure when he wasn’t breathing correctly. It was difficult because Shouyou couldn’t produce any words to instruct Tobio.

‘What is he trying to teach me?’ Tobio pondered as he felt his body building energy. Shouyou sat and breathed with him, but Tobio stopped as he was only human, and he was still injured. Shouyou realized this, putting the muzzle back on and the sword back into its scabbard. He turned around to offer Tobio a piggyback ride, but forced him when Tobio resisted. “Are we going back now?”

Shouyou nodded and he sped down the mountain path back to Ukai’s home. Tobio hopped off his back once they returned and excused himself to get ready for bed.nWhen Tobio returned he looked at Shouyou’s blank stare and slug-like form, wondering what he was thinking about or if he was thinking at all.

‘I mean, demon’s have some form of intelligence, so Shouyou should have some thought process… but did he even have a thought process before?’

  
  
  


It became a usual thing for Tobio in the following days that led up to when he would receive his nichirin sword. As soon as the sun set, Shouyou would come out from the back room and drag him up to the bamboo groves; Tobio began to realize a few things too:

Shouyou, like when Shigeru was correcting him on his breathing, was trying to help him with his breathing. Tobio did find it difficult doing the deep breaths that Shouyou was able to do easily, but that was because he’d probably been doing it for years. Another thing that he noticed was that the breathing that they did together was similar, but not similar, to the Breath of Water. Shouyou had told him lots of things about the Dance of the Fire God, mostly because Tobio was curious and it wasn’t a family secret, but Tobio had a hard time recalling some of the things that they talked about.

In the calmness of the bamboo grove, Tobio was able to learn one of the steps to the Dance. Which one he learned, he wished he knew; but it was progress! He and Shouyou stared at each other right after Tobio had done it, and collectively started screaming. Well, Shouyou hopped up and down while screaming into the muzzle. They went down the mountain early that night because Tobio was going to receive his nichirin blade the next day, and Shouyou was excitedly humming at Tobio’s own excitement.

Morning came, and Tobio could vaguely hear wind chimes. He went outside to see a small figure in the distance, slowly walking towards the house. He couldn’t see the face due to the large hat and the wind chimes hanging off of it, so Tobio wasn’t sure how to respond when this person was right in front of him.

“My name is Sugawara Koushi, and I am the swordsmith who created the nichirin blade of Kageyama Tobio.” A kind voice came from the figure.

“Ah, that would be me.” Tobio pointed at himself, and Sugawara nodded his heads, the chimes softly ringing. They entered the home and seated themselves near the hearth, Ukai sitting nearby.

Sugawara shook hands with Ukai. “It’s wonderful to see you again, Ukai-san!”

Ukai pat the Swordsmith’s back, and Tobio could smell a pleasant vibe from them. “You missed Motoya, but he still uses the same sword you gave him all those years ago.”

“I’d be very sad if that sword broke, but it’s good to know that he’s still alive.” Sugawara laughed, and both Tobio and Shouyou (who was in the other room, sadly) thought that Sugawara was a very kind person. He looked over at Tobio and brought over the wooden casing he carried. “Let’s give you your nichirin blade, shall we?”

Tobio nodded and carefully opened the wooden casing, inside it was his nichirin blade. The cord wrap was black, the handle itself was red, and the guard was a simple black guard. The scabbard was black and the hanging cord was black; Tobio was so awed at the smoothness of the scabbard and ran his hands over it.

Sugawara chuckled. “Watching the new recruits seeing their blades for the first time always brings me joy. I think I’ll be lucky and finally see a crimson blade for one!”

Tobio was completely tuned out to what the swordsmith was saying and finally put his hand on the hilt. He pulled out the sword, which was the traditional clear look. He placed both hands on it and started seeing the color shift. The color became deeper and deeper, until the sword turned pitch black. He looked over at Ukai and Sugawara, before sniffing the air. 

‘Why does it smell...so hostile?’

“So the blade is black.” Ukai calmly stated.

“Uh, is it something bad?” Tobio started feeling slightly distressed because the hostility grew. 

“No it’s just--”

Sugawara, on the other hand, was not as calm. “ARGHHHH!!! I THOUGHT I WOULD FINALLY SEE A CRIMSON BLADE!!” And he proceeded to wrestle Tobio onto the ground, pinning Tobio’s head and legs between his legs and attempting to suffocate him. 

“OH MY GOD??” Tobio wheezed as he felt the air leave his body, Sugawara still in hysterics. “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? HOW OLD ARE YOU?”

“I’M TWENTY-SIX YEARS OLD!”

Tobio felt his soul leaving his body until a loud cawing came from outside. “Kageyama Tobio! You’re needed in Kyoto because of the disappearance of multiple Demon Slayers! You are the Mizunoto rank and therefore, you will be assisted by Kanoe Tanaka Ryuunosuke.”

Sugawara let him go and he started seething at the mention of ‘Tanaka Ryuunosuke’. “Oh that one! He’s quite reckless but he’s a good kid. Yes, yes he is.”

Tobio was just so...unable to express emotions at this point.

“Suga, you broke my student.”

  
  
  


After collecting his consciousness and bidding the eccentric swordsmith farewell, Tobio flopped on top of the futon Shouyou was hiding under. Shouyou groaned under Tobio’s weight, wiggling his way out of the unbearable weight. The day had ended, but Shouyou knew that Tobio needed to rest. Shouyou moved Tobio to fit under the futon, tucking him in. 

His eyes were already adjusted and he saw the rise and fall of Tobio’s chest. What he didn’t realize was that he reached out and scratched Tobio’s head, his long nails just hitting it in the right spot. Tobio’s breathing evened-out and Shouyou curled up at the edge of the futon. 

Voices of people who have long-since passed. The warmth of an embrace that was almost forgotten. He thought he would be miserable, in such a state; but there was a small hope in his heart. 

Journals that were carefully recorded and fond stories of the past, those nights in the bamboo groves gave him old memories, as well as new memories. 

He can’t remember a lot, he couldn’t even remember his own name until Tobio saved him, but he knew he had one job as the person he was now:

_ ‘No matter what, I’ll protect humans. I’ll never hurt them.’ _

  
  


Bonus:

  
  


Komori: This segment is going to be different this time around because DUN DUN it’s me and Sakusa! Yaaaaaay!

Sakusa: You’re being too loud Komori-kun. This chapter was very peaceful, which means something bad is going to happen. That’s what always happens.

Komori: You’re so pessimistic! But I’m happy that I’ll be a part of the story from now on. Also, I wonder what Hinata is teaching Kageyama?

Sakusa: Well we were given a lot of memories today, and we could give answers; but you know, spoilers. 

Komori: So stingy! Anyways, it’s time for the Taisho secret! Many people are aware that Sakusa is a germaphobe, but did you know that he’s very quick with killing demons because he can’t stand the blood!

Sakusa: That’s all we have for this week, so catch us in the next chapter: First Mission.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt the need to include an indulgent chapter for this chapter; don't ask me, most of my good ideas happen while I'm at work
> 
> Anyhow, I love Motoya and I always get upset when people just leT THIS GOOD BOY FLY UNDER THEIR RADAR!!! And then I read that angsty fic with SakuKomo and I was in a different plane of existence. Komori Motoya, I will protect you
> 
> Also, Suga being Haganezuka is the best decision I ever made
> 
> See you in the next chapter, love you guys and take care!


	6. First Mission

Tobio buttoned the top, tucking it into his pants and looping his belt around his waist. Shouyou peeked from under the blanket and his eyes sparkled as Tobio attached his sword to his waist. 

“Tobio.” Ukai approached Tobio with the same fox mask, but a wooden box. “This box is created from a light wood material. I hope this will help you and Shouyou in your journey.”

“Thank you Ukai-san!” Tobio picked up the box and awed as he felt the obvious difference between the basket. He walked to the back room and opened the box in front of Shouyou. “Come on Shouyou, this should be a lot more comfortable than the basket.” Shouyou warily hummed at the box, immediately hiding under the blanket again. “Shouyou…” This time, Shouyou slowly inched towards the box, before finally shrinking and fitting into the box. 

Before he got to close the box, Shouyou put a white cloth on top of the box. “Mm mm!”

“Make sure you actually go to sleep, I knew you were awake when we travelled with the basket.”

Shouyou started to angrily scratch the wooden box and Tobio huffed; he picked up the white cloth and recognized it as his grandfather’s haori. The claw marks Shouyou left in it were completely mended, and it was cleaned of the blood from that day. He put it on, adjusting the sleeves and noticed how his hands reached past the sleeves.

‘I’ve grown a lot haven’t I?’ Tobio thought, picking up the box and finally going outside with Ukai.

Before sending him off, Ukai fixed his collar and placed his hand on Tobio’s shoulder. “Tobio, I know you are aware of this, but from this point onward, you and Shouyou will face incredible hardships. And from the bottom of my heart, I wish you the best of luck.” 

“Thank you for everything, Ukai-san. If it weren’t for you or Sakusa-san, my wish to turn Shouyou back into a human would have remained a dream.” Tobio nodded before going down the mountain path and following his messenger crow towards Kyoto.

  
  
  


It took a few days to reach Kyoto from Mt. Sagiri, but once they reached Kyoto, Tobio travelled through the outskirts of the city to look for the Kanoe Tanaka. Which proved to be very difficult, because there were too many people out and the messenger crow refused to talk. Night fell, and there were still people out, much to the group’s chagrin. 

“What do people even do at night?” Tobio grumbled, as he tried to listen to the messenger crow’s voice in the loud crowd. ‘I can’t let Shouyou out either because I don’t even know how well he’ll do in a crowd of people!’ He could smell the increasing impatience coming from the box, and Tobio knew that he needed to get out of the crowds as soon as possible and hovered near the alleys.

Suddenly, a hand shot out from the darkness and yanked Tobio into a random alleyway, before dragging him through the maze-like paths through the city. Tobio grabbed the hand on his arm, attempting to get the mysterious figure to let him go. He caught sight of a white characters of their black outfit, but they were moving too much for Tobio to actually read it. Rather than escaping, Tobio knew he needed to assess what was going on around him.

‘The smell isn’t a demon, and it isn’t hostile. Not to mention, there’s another scent coming from above!’ Tobio looked up to see another figure that was running on top of the buildings. ‘I didn’t smell it at first, but who is this person? It doesn’t look like they’re following us, but rather the person in front of me is following them!’ He finally had an idea of the situation once they stopped in the more quiet parts of the alleyway.

“Who are you?” Tobio finally asked once he caught his breath, the person from the roof jumping down next to Tobio and the other person. All of a sudden, the roof jumper had him against the wall with a shiny metal object pointed at him. “Are you Kanoe Tanaka Ryuunosuke?”

“Hah?” The other person growled as he aggressively strutted up to Tobio, sizing him up. Well, he attempted to size him up but Tobio was staring down at this punk-like person. “Who are you to ask that?”

It was quiet for a moment, Tobio not quite reading the mood. “Kageyama Tobio?” 

Silence again.

But then the masked person couldn’t hold back his laugh and eventually the two strangers burst into laughter, before turning to Tobio. The air changed and the masked one started jumping up and down. “Wahaha! We got you didn’t we? We totally got him Ryu!”

The other man, who Tobio safely assumed was the Kanoe, was wiping away a tear after laughing so hard. He stood straight and the creepy scowl he had on was wiped away by a bright grin. “We really did! I’m sorry about that by the way, the master usually pairs me with a lot of the newbies. Are you okay by the way?”

Tobio was mildly confused, but nodded nonetheless. “Tanaka-san, who is this person with you?”

The masked person hopped onto Tobio’s shoulders, balancing himself and laughed without restraint. “I’m Nishinoya Yuu! It’s nice to meet you Tobio!”

“You can call me Ryuu, Tobio?” Tanaka rubbed the back of his neck before grabbing Yuu. “Yeah he’s a friend in the Corp, and he’ll be with us for the mission.”

Tobio nodded and their crows caught their attention, flying in a circle. “What’s the mission?”

Ryuu and Yuu nodded, beckoning Tobio to follow after them. 

“According to some scouts that were sent here, there have been a lot of Demon Slayers sent to this specific area have mysteriously disappeared. From what we already know, there’s a few demons lurking here, but it’s easy for them to blend in with the night crowds.” Ryuu informed them as they continued down the twisting paths.

“It’s not one of the known Twelve Demon Moons, but it’s definitely gaining some strength at an alarming rate.” Yuu continued, using his thumb to push his sword in-and-out of its scabbard. “Ryu and I have been investigating for a few days now, but we had to wait for you in order to actually initiate the mission. Any questions?” 

Tobio shook his head and they turned to a corner and saw a street that was brightly lit. Tobio shielded his eyes before allowing them to adjust to the bright lights. “Where are we?”

Ryuu scanned the area, before answering Tobio in a hushed voice. “The Red Light District of Kyoto.” 

Tobio stiffened, and his eyes wandered the brightly lit streets of the district. There were a lot of men within this area, but he grew very uncomfortable as he saw all the teahouses “Have you guys gotten any leads yet?”

“We only got here a few days ago, and we’ve been asking everyone about that particular house.” Yuu pointed down the street, past all the larger, more populated teahouses, and down to a distinctly decorated teahouse. “Many people go inside, but only a few get to come back repeatedly.”

“What do you mean by that?” 

“A teahouse will keep note of whatever wealthy visitor comes in, and will allow them to come back in order to bring back revenue, and their Oirans will bring back their favorite. That one has been allowing anyone and everyone to enter the house, but,” Ryuu pointed at a person entering the building, “that guy right there has been trying to go back into that teahouse for a few nights since we’ve arrived, and he’s been rejected every single time. Yuu and I have been trying to see if there’s a specific requirement to go be able to go back.”

“Any leads?” Tobio looked between the two of them, only to have an answer as the pair grumbled. He decided to leave the alley to get closer to the building. “I’m just trying to get a closer view of everyone who goes inside!”

Ryuu and Yuu reached out to try and grab him, but he slipped away too quickly. The teahouses Tobio passed were brightly obnoxious, the people going in and out smelled like smoke and anger, ill-intent, jealousy, and satisfaction reeking off of them, but once he got closer he noticed how modestly the newest one was. Focusing his sense of smell, Tobio caught a particularly strong smell; it was a sickly sweet smell, not the sweet smell of a red bean-filled bun, but rather the smell of something dying. 

“Would you like some tea sir?” A young girl from the house had a tray of tea in her hands, handing one to Tobio. “Are you here to see Shirofuku-sama?” 

“Shirofuku-sama?” 

“She’s the Oiran of Dani House!”

Then, the sound of a koto being played entered Tobio’s ears and he found himself swaying towards the building; almost in a hypnotic state.

Ryuu and Yuu immediately run after him and drag him away from the house and flee into a different teahouse. When they notice he’s still in a daze, they start slapping him to try and awake him up. Yuu bit him in the arm and finally, Tobio woke up.

“That was far too reckless Tobio!” Yuu yelled at him, shaking Tobio by his shoulders. “If we didn’t hold our breaths to get you, all of us would have been goners!”

“I’m sorry, Yuu-san, Ryuu-san.” Tobio contemplated what he was going to say next, however he wasn’t sure if smelling an emotion off of someone was credible. “I just wanted to see if there was anything suspicious, but there is definitely a demon inside that building.”

“If only we could get inside!” Ryuu groaned, and they all could only look back at the building.

“Excuse me?” They all turned around to see a woman, her hands on her hips, and a few girls peeking from behind her. “Are you going to rent a room or are you a group of loitering urchins?”

Tobio looked back and forth between Ryuu and Yuu, seeing them tense up, but also smelled infatuation off of them. ‘Is the reason why they haven’t been able to investigate thoroughly...is the fact that they have a weakness for women?’ He stepped forward and looked at the small, fierce woman. “If we rent a room, will you answer some questions for us?”

The woman raised a brow before shooing the other girls away, and she seemed more annoyed. “Is this about the Dani House? Everyone has been coming and asking and asking and asking us as to how they can go back inside!”

They all blinked. “People have been doing that?” 

“Yes!” The woman cried out in annoyance, walking towards the desk. “All these men have been coming back all willy nilly and la-de-da-de-da and just so utterly obsessed with that house!”

Tobio realized she was being very loud and convinced the woman to finish the story once they got into their room; it did annoy her that she interrupted midway, but the group promised to pay upfront for the room. Once they got to the room, the woman, whose name was Kuzuri Michiko, said she would come back once all the business was closed for the night. Unfortunately, Tobio had to deal with two mentally unstable seniors.

“Geeeeeeeeeh, how were you able to talk so naturally like that Tobio???” Yuu gritted his teeth as he settled onto the bed. “You must be so good with women right?”

“Ah, no I’m not.” Tobio placed the wooden box into a corner, the door facing outward. He then walked over to the table and readied the tea. “I just thought that we needed to get this demon as quickly as possible.”

Yuu sighed and sunk further into the bed, slightly sulking, before he perked up again. “Hey, when you were near the Yaki-something house, did you notice anything weird?”

“That’s right, you almost entered the house if it weren’t for us!” Ryuu said as he entered the room with some food, handing off a pork bun to the both of them. “It was almost like you were in a trance.”

‘A trance...wait, that noise I heard!’ Tobio recalled the smell and then the koto. “When I got really close to the house, I heard a koto being played. And I think that’s when I lost control of myself!”

“A koto?”

“Yes, I believe that the people who enter that house are probably hypnotized by the koto.” Tobio leaned forward, while his seniors looked skeptical; fortunately, Kuzuri returned. They all stood up to greet her, and she tiredly motioned for them to sit at the small table “Are you okay Kuzuri-san?”

“I’m alright, thank you for asking.” She took her glasses off her face and rubbed her eyelids, before picking up the tea that Tobio was pouring for them. “Ever since the Dani House opened, business here has been hit terribly.”

“Kuzuri-san, what do you know about the Dani House?” 

Sighing, she had a faraway look in her eyes as she stared at the tea in the cup. “The Dani House opened up a few months ago, but their popularity was unrivalled, even the three most popular houses were stumped for a short time after the opening. At first, it didn’t matter to them, because they had loyal customers they thought would never want to go to that house. But then, one by one, their business dwindled as their customers only ever wanted to go to that house. Then, they started sweeping away our customers and now we’re struggling to stay afloat. Some of our customers, who I’ve known since I first opened, haven’t been heard from since I asked them to look into the house.” Kuzuri gripped her cup in frustration.

Yuu finally spoke to her for the first time since they got there. “Do you know what makes them so popular? What’s been making them go again and again?”

She shook her head unfortunately. “I sent two of my guards, Unnan Keisuke and Mami Nozomu, to investigate, but only Keisuke returned. And ever since, he’s been trying to go back for Nozomu.”

“Many of our own have disappeared trying to figure out what’s been happening, but is there any information that could help us find Nozomu? Anything that we could use to save anyone else?” Ryuu questioned, also finally finding a comfortable position in the situation.

She brought her hand to her face, before standing up and ringing a bell. Not a moment later, a young man with black hair entered the room, taking a seat at the table as well. Ryuu and Yuu recognized him as the man they’ve been watching. “This is one of my guards, and my adopted son, Unnan Keisuke. He might have something that could help you.”

‘He looks scary as hell oh mY GOD!’ They all thought as they looked at Keisuke’s scowl.

“Please, Keisuke.” Kuzuri softly pleaded.

After a moment of silence, he finally spoke. “Nozomu and I went into the house, but I wasn’t expecting much. It was a very modest place too, but the courtesans they had were stunning. And there was this one particular courtesan, I believe to be their Oiran, was very skillful with her koto. As soon as she started playing, I couldn’t remember anything that happened while she was playing. All I knew from my experience was that I had a small cut on my arm.

“I had my satisfaction after that night, because I thought they were lacing the tea with something. That’s how the other three big houses got popular anyway.” Keisuke had a scowl on his face while Kuzuri giggled. “But Nozomu was in such a deep trance, and that night I had to follow after him because he went back to the house. He said the sound of the koto was so beautiful, but I could not hear it for the life of me. I did everything I could to drag that dumbass back with me, but he went into the house. And I never saw him after that.” Keisuke’s expression was dark, but regretful.

The three of them felt their shoulders drop as Keisuke reached out to Kuzuri, who was shedding a few tears. “They must have cursed Nozomu, because he’s far too sensible to do something like that!” She cried as she brought out a handkerchief. Then, she felt warm hands pressed on top of hers and she looked up to see Tobio stretched over the table.

“I promise that we will do everything we can to help you and all the other businesses, and we will find a way to stop Dani House.” Tobio’s eyes burned with truth and brilliance, and Kuzuri felt a small hope grow in her chest.

“Thank you, Tobio.” She turned her hand to grip his, and felt all the calluses on his palms. ‘For such a young boy, he has the hands of a grown man.’ “Rest up tonight, we’ll all do our best for the future.” She sadly smiled at him and the rest of the group; and with that, the two exited the room.

The three sat in silence, thinking of what they were going to do now; and through the night, they created their plan.

  
  
  


The next evening, after sleeping for most of the day, Tobio once again was outside Dani House. As Tobio neared the house, he heard the koto, and fell into a weak trance. He swayed as he walked inside, the guards at the front not stopping him at all. Yuu had snuck into the building through one of the windows and was going to look for Nozomu. In the alleyways near the house, Ryuu was hiding and waiting for his signal.

_ “As soon as something goes wrong on the inside, I’m going to break a window.” _

‘So reckless, I love him!’ He thought as he camped out in the alleyways.

Shouyou was still in the wooden box but at Mujin House (Kuzuri’s business), sleeping in the box. He’d been itching to get out all day, but there were too many people nearby that would see him. Eventually, he starts to hear a voice. ‘Whose voice is that?’

‘This place is kind of like a maze…’ Yuu thought as he opened several doors, only to either see an empty room or be greeted by screaming courtesans; eventually, he opened the one he needed. And he was absolutely horrified.

Meanwhile, Tobio was seated in the teahouse, somewhat aware of what was going on around him. There were returning men, as well as new ones, who were eagerly waiting for the show to begin. Once the Oiran, who Tobio realized was Shirofuku-sama, took a seat on the center stage, she had her koto placed in front of her. As soon as she started playing, everyone went into a hypnotic state and then several other courtesans started walking around the tables with the new guests. Then one person at a time, the courtesans cut a man’s arm. The sound of the koto grew louder, and one of the girls dropped a small amount of white powder into the man’s tea.

_ “Tobio! Wake up!” _

_ “Tobio!” _

_ “ _ Tobio!”

He gasped as he snapped out of the trance, grabbing the courtesan that was about to cut him. She cowered in fear and all the other courtesans backed away.

“What are you doing here?” Tobio glowered, the courtesan he was holding onto trying to pull away. 

“Let me go! Let me go!” 

“Let her go.” The koto continued, but the woman on the stage pulled away from her instrument. This was Tobio’s first time seeing her, but her face shifted from the face of a beautiful woman to a three-eyed demon. “I said. Let. Her. Go.”

Tobio noticed the strong smell of death coming from her, but still persisted. “Tell me what you were doing here, then I’ll let her go.”

Her four eyes glared at him, as her expression darkened. “You don’t know what you’re messing with, little boy.”

_ “Once you get strong enough, Tobio, you can smell how many humans a demon ate.” _

Carefully picking through the scents in the room, he felt his heart drop as he could smell the reeking death off of her. ‘Wait a minute, why is there another smell?’ Realizing that it was coming from the ground, Tobio took the courtesan and jumped to the side. Another woman emerged from the ground, her hair covering her face. Tobio picked up the nearest item, a teacup, and threw it towards a window, shattering it.

Ryuu heard the glass shatter, and they immediately ran towards the house. He jumped into the broken window and saw the two demon women. Ryuu looked around and saw Tobio shielding the courtesans, and they made eye-contact. He sped over to Tobio, dodging the other woman, and landing in front of him.

“Here!” Ryu tossed him his sword and they pulled their swords from their scabbards, Ryuu pulling out a gun as well.

They turned their attention to the koto demon, who began to play her koto again. This time, all the men, excluding the Demon Slayers, stood up and began to break the furniture. Slowly backing away, they attempted to keep the courtesans calm; unfortunately the men started rushing towards them and the courtesans started to scatter. 

Luckily, Yuu opened one of the screen doors and guided the girls out of the building. When any of the men tried to grab one of the girls, Yuu immediately swatted them away, hitting them with the hilt of his sword. Ryuu and Yuu noticed how shaken he was, but they had to focus on the hypnotized men. 

Tobio had his sword in his scabbard again, and started to hit the men with his bare hands, subduing many of them. Ryuu, on the other hand, was trying to hit them too, both gun and sword. They didn’t notice that the room around them was changing, and the demons had disappeared. 

“Is that all of them?” Ryuu panted, scanning the room with all the unconscious bodies; suddenly, he pointed to the stage. “Wait, where did she go?”

Suddenly, the room shifted and the screen walls opened to reveal the outside, and they were all thrown out the building. The crowds outside screamed and scattered, as Tobio, Ryuu, and Yuu grabbed as many men as possible to try to save them. They put them into the alleyways, and started to look for the demons. 

“You guys!” They saw Kuzuri and Keisuke running towards them, the wooden box slung over the man’s arm. Keisuke gave the box to Tobio, who put it onto his back. “We heard the chaos, what just happened?”

“It’s the Oiran, and another girl, they’re demons!” Tobio explained to Kuzuri and Keisuke, who were baffled. “I know it sounds crazy and bizarre, but demons exist!”

“He’s right,” they looked to Yuu, who looked very pale, “they’ve been capturing men and a few women, and there were a few who were still alive. I even found the uniforms of some of our own within this room that had a bunch of clothes.” Yuu had a Demon Slayer jacket, showing the name of the owner, who was one of the deployed. 

“We need to contact the police.” Keisuke stated, turning around to try and get to the police station, only to be stopped because the ground looked like murky waters.

‘The smell is coming from the ground again!’ Following the moving scent on the ground, Tobio realized the smell was coming from the ground. Lifting his sword, pointing it towards the ground; patiently waiting, Tobio thrusted the sword into the ground. The ground blew up, and the two demons emerged from the ground.

“Kaori-san!” The koto demon cried out as the marked demon held the stab wound in her neck. “Damn humans!” 

“Yukie, we need to get out of here.” Kaori pulled her collar, trying to drag Yukie as she glared at the group. “Yukie!”

“We needed those humans Kaori! We were almost done here anyway.” Yukie growled as she picked up her koto. “These humans will pay for messing with us!”

‘What the hell is wrong with her?’ Tobio thought, looking between him and Ryuu, who could fight with a gun apparently. “What were you guys planning?”

“Are we supposed to answer that or something?” Yukie snapped, fully emerging from the murky waters, she pulled Kaori out with her and held her behind her back. “We’re demons of course, what do you think we eat? Vegetables?”

Kuzuri moved closer to the front, before raising her voice. “What have you done with Nozomu? Where is my son?” Keisuke appeared behind her and looked for some form of hope.

Kaori appeared to have healed her wound, and she shrugged. “There were too many men that came in and out, so I can’t recall if he’s still alive.” And with that, she sunk back into the ground.

“Although,” Yukie pointed to the house, “we usually keep our victim’s clothing, so if you look hard enough you might find it.”

Before Tobio could realize it, Kaori leapt up from the ground and grabbed Kuzuri by her collar, dragging her into the puddle. Yuu jumped into the puddle, and grabbed Kuzuri. The two pulled back and forth, as Yuu began to lose his breath. 

‘Wait a minute, I can breathe the water?’ Yuu thought as he breathed the water into his lungs. Finally taking one big breath, he yanked Kuzuri out of Kaori’s grip and felt a tug at his ankle. 

On the surface, Keisuke submerged his face into the puddle, grabbing Yuu’s ankle. Yuu looked at him and showed that he had Kuzuri, and Keisuke yanked the two of them back to the surface. Yuu coughed up all the water from his lungs, and Kuzuri was out cold. Keisuke took both of them into his arms, and took a protective stance over them. He realized the murky waters had disappeared, and he looked to Ryuu and Tobio, who were fighting Yukie.

Yukie created a sound wave with her koto, making them slide back on the ground. Tobio rushed towards her again, and Yukie used her koto to block the sword. She didn’t notice it, but Ryuu had his gun pointed at her and fired. The bullet flew towards her and hit her in the arm, and she couldn’t hold her koto up anymore. So she let go of it, and fell into the murky waters. 

Now they were all looking for the demons, Tobio attempting to smell out where Kaori may pop up next. He and Ryuu slowly circled around Keisuke and Kuzuri, Yuu finally back on his feet. 

One second too late, Kaori leapt from the puddle and went to attack Tobio. 

One second on time, the wooden door to the box opened and Shouyou kicked Kaori in the face, sending her flying out of the puddle.

Shouyou warily hummed as he stepped out of the box, standing between the group and Kaori. 

“There was a person in that box?” Ryuu and Yuu cried out at the same time, and Shouyou’s eyes shifted back to the docile state as he stared at the group. 

He knelt in front of Keisuke and Kuzuri, placing his hands on the faces. In his eyes, he saw his mother and Kazuyo, Tobio’s grandfather. Then he stood up and approached Ryuu and Yuu, who took a step back, but he reached out because he saw his two best friends, Izumi and Kouji.

_ “I know this may give you a false sense of hope, but I pray it doesn’t. While he was asleep, I used a hypnosis technique in order to teach Shouyou something.” _

Tobio recalled what Ukai had told him when Shouyou had woken up.

_ “All humans are your friends and family, you will protect all humans, and you will never hurt humans.” _

Shouyou rushed towards Kaori, jumping into the air and bringing it down into a kick,

_ “All demons are your enemies, and you will kill demons for hurting humans!” _

  
  
  


Bonus:

  
  
  


Hinata: I can’t believe we get to work with Tanaka-senpai and Nishinoya-senpai!

Kageyama: Both of our seniors are very reliable, so I’m thankful that we get to be with them on our first mission.

Hinata: Kuzuri-san and Unnan-senpai are also really nice aren’t they? Although Unnan-senpai doesn’t really talk much.

Kageyama: It’s so crazy that we have to fight against two demons in my first mission though, but it’s time for the Taisho Secret! Although Mujin House isn’t as popular as the other three houses, Kuzuri-san’s Oiran was regarded as the best koto player throughout Kyoto until Dani House came.

Hinata: I would love to hear Kuzuri-san’s Oiran play one day! But that’ll be all for today and we’ll see you in the next chapter: The Swamp and the Koto!

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Waaaaaaah I'm so sorry for being late with the chapter, I realized it was Saturday and I forgot to work on the chapter. (-_-)
> 
> I didn't mention this in the beginning, but I rewatched Demon Slayer and I reread the manga to write this fic. The problem I had was how bored I was rewatching/rereading the swamp demon and I realized if I suffered having to rewatch/reread it, then I was going to suffer trying to write it. I wanted to introduce characters that will help out in the future, or become future enemies, but I wanted to be able to have fun with it. So instead of missing girls, I decided to make it in the Red Light District with missing men; if you've read the manga, this will change a future arc drastically.
> 
> And then I reached the dilemma of trying to write a new idea entirely, because I didn't want to pull some plot from my butt and bs my way through it...and now I have several pages of research over the Red Light District and yuujo culture (the entertainment women)
> 
> That being said, I'm really happy with how this plot is and the characters I'm including are shaping. It makes me really excited for when I reach some of the major arcs like Natagumo Mountain, or even in the far future in the final arc. I appreciate everyone whose been reading this fic, and I hope to see you guys in the next one. Buh-bye!~


	7. The Swamp and the Koto

Shouyou’s voice may have been muffled, but the roar he produced was still as terrifying. Kaori brought her hands up to protect her head, but his kick was stronger and immediately broke her forearms. She wailed in pain, collapsing to the ground as Shouyou jumped back to prepare another kick. 

‘I need to get Yukie!’ She opened the black surface and started sinking, however Shouyou kicked her straight out of the puddle.

_ ‘You won’t escape from me that easily!’ _

“Why is a demon working with, no, why is a demon protecting humans?” She shrieked, her hair moving away from her face to reveal her single glowing eye. “What kind of loose screws does this kid have?!”

“Yeah, Tobio.” He looked over to see Ryuu and Yuu side-eyeing him, their weapons still drawn. 

“We’ll finish this first, but you have some explaining to do.”

Tobio nodded, looking at Shouyou. “Can you hold her off until we get the other one?” He nodded, and Tobio looked to the other Demon Slayers. “Let’s go get the koto demon!”

“You guys go on ahead, I’ll stay here to fight the water demon.” Yuu commanded as he went over to help Shouyou, who was waiting for Kaori to make a move.

Ryuu and Tobio nodded as they ran back into the building to look for the koto demon, the building still in pristine form compared to the chaos and fires outside. As soon as they entered the building, the doors shut behind them and they saw Yukie sitting on the stage again. Her koto was right next to her, but her arm was still dripping from the bullet wound, and she looked pissed.

“You are such nuisances, you know that?” She hissed, tearing her kimono to tie up her arm. “YOU’RE ALL THE SAME!” She shrieked and she plucked her koto in a strange pattern, causing the two men to float in the air. She plucked the strings in a certain way and Tobio smelled an attack, pushing Ryuu and they both were sent into the walls. Four large claws marks were dragged across the tearoom, and Yukie played another strange pattern, causing Ryuu and Tobio to fall to the ground. Ryuu attempted to get close to her again, but she plucked one of the koto strings and the floor opened beneath him. Tobio barely got over in time to grab his arm, and he tossed Ryuu over his head as Yukie plucked the koto again. 

‘Her koto control the building!’ They thought, as she played that same pattern, more claws dragging through the room. ‘We need to separate her from her instruments, but how?’

“Ryuu-san! How many bullets do you have left?” Tobio shouted as he dashed over tables and pillows, avoiding the invisible claws. Ryuu took cover behind the screen walls and checked the case, holding up three fingers. ‘Maybe if he hadn’t shot her earlier, we could’ve pulled it out as a surprise. For now, we’ll have to look for a weak point.’

“So stubborn!” Yukie muttered, playing one of the patterns again, and instead of floating into the air, they were slammed into the ground.

Ryuu felt the wind get knocked out of him, but as he took a deep breath he noticed a strange taste in the air. Glancing over at the demon and saw her arm still profusely bleeding. ‘Any normal demon would have healed by now, so why is she still bleeding?’ He saw a river of blood flowing from where she was sitting. He looked over to Tobio, who was getting up after landing on his face. “I think I understand her pattern now, Tobio!”

“Eh?” Tobio, who was nursing a bloody nose, leaned closer. “What is it?”

“Lifting us in the air is an upward arpeggio, but getting us back to the ground is a downward arpeggio. Attacking us is that weird plucking pattern, but as far as I’m concerned, that’s all we have to worry about.” He eyed the river of blood, but he looked back at Tobio again. “I’ll distract her, but I need to get her koto from her, or at least get her off the stage.”

“But what about you?”

“Don’t worry about me.” Ryuu gave a reassuring grin to Tobio, as he tucked his gun back into his uniform.

Tobio was still skeptical, but he trusted that his senior had a plan. He couldn’t smell anything because of his bloody nose, so all he could do now was rely on Ryuu. 

“Ready, set...NOW!” And with that, he ran forward and threw his sword into the air. Tobio was behind him as he quietly followed after him, looking at the koto. Yukie moved her head to the side as it came spinning at her and she played the attack pattern again; unfortunately, Ryuu was not quick enough to dodge the claws and his left arm was torn from his shoulder.

“RYUU-SAN!”

“KEEP GOING TOBIO!” Ryuu screeched as he continued to run forward, sliding under the table where the blood had splattered onto. They heard the upward arpeggio again, but Ryuu held onto the tatami mat, crumbling the bamboo as he crawled closer to the river of blood.

‘I didn’t notice this the first time, but when we go into the air, I can still move!’ Tobio used the floating tables as platforms in order to continue moving through the air. ‘If only I could smell those claws, then I could have used that form!’

“...What in the world is your friend doing?” Yukie played the downward arpeggio as she looked at Ryuu in disgust. “Is-Is he drinking my blood?!”

“Ryuu-san!?” Tobio’s eyes bulged out of his head as he stared at his senpai drinking from the massive amounts of blood from the stage. ‘WHAT KIND OF WEIRDOS ARE IN THE CORP???’

“Disgusting,” Yukie’s head was lowered, her form trembling greatly, “COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY DISGUSTING!!!!” She started rapidly playing her koto, Tobio and Ryuu were thrown around the room like crazy.

“I thought you had a plan!” Tobio shrieked as he hopped from a table, but was slammed into the ground. He rolled onto the ground to dodge the claws. “I KNEW YOU HAD A WEAKNESS FOR WOMAN RYUU-SAN, BUT I DIDN’T KNOW YOU WERE A PERVERT!”

“I’M SORRY BUT IT’S COMPLICATED!” Ryuu shouted back in retaliation as he picked up his torn arm, gripping the tatami mat as the room’s gravity shifted again. ‘A few more seconds and we should be good!’

  
  


Meanwhile, Shouyou and Yuu fought against Kaori, who proved to be more difficult than they thought. She opened the black puddle again, but instead of it opening under her, it opened under the duo. They gasped as they slipped under like water, but fortunately Keisuke grabbed their collars and pulled them back up. Unbeknownst to them, Kaori placed her hands on the ground.

‘Blood Demon Art: Swamp Monster!’

From the black puddle in front of them, a black lump rose out and took the shape of a hand. Keisuke backed away with Shouyou and Yuu as the black lump crawled out of the puddle and took the form of a person.

“Did you really think all I could do was escape and hide?” Kaori chuckled, the black lump making a gurgled scream as it hurled itself towards them. Yuu quickly sliced it in half, only for it to reform; but even worse, it split into two. “Now little demon slayer, what are you going to do against water?”

Keisuke’s eyes shook as he looked at the monsters, but his heart shook greater. ‘I’m just a human, but how can I even think of beating this demon? I couldn’t even protect Nozomu.’

On the other hand, Shouyou dashed forward and attempted to kick one of the monsters, only for it to change shape and slip under him. He looked down as the monster reshaped and kicked him into the air, the other one jumping into the air to kick Shouyou again. Shouyou slammed into the ground, but groggily got back up. The monster appeared behind him and was about to plunge its hand into Shouyou’s chest, but Yuu was there in a second and kicked it back at the other monster. 

“You can’t beat it if it doesn’t have a body.” Yuu pat Shouyou’s shoulder, giving a thumbs up as he continued to look at the opponents in front of him. “I usually don’t like to talk during a battle, but if we can find a way to stop the swamp demon, then we’ll be able to stop that monster from running around and hurting everyone else.”

Shouyou nodded enthusiastically, looking at the field in front of him. He pointed to the carts that were on fire and waved his hands around. To his and Keisuke’s surprise, Yuu seemed to understand what Shouyou was implying and leaned close to the demon’s ear. 

As Shouyou’s eyes sparkled in approval, Yuu looked back at Keisuke, a small smile on his face. “Don’t lose yourself now, but if you fall, let’s fall forward.”

Keisuke gasped as he brought himself back to reality. ‘That’s right, he’s human too. So are those other two, who are fighting for their lives inside that building.’ Gripping his spear, he stood up. ‘I don’t usually care for things other than what affects Kuzuri-san, but if this can help those people, then I will put my all into this.’

  
  


Meanwhile in the building:

“DIE! DIE! DIE!!” Yukie furiously screamed as she continued to play her koto, but her playing wasn’t as fast as it was in the beginning; something that Tobio noticed.

‘Wait, so was Ryuu-san agitating her on purpose?’ Tobio thought to himself, seeing himbo Ryuu bullying the bimbo demon. ‘Her wounds haven’t healed at all, in fact, they’ve gotten worse!’

Suddenly, a loud whistle resonated through the air, and the chaos in the room stopped. Yukie and Tobio looked to Ryuu, who had a wooden flute in his hands; and then they were shocked to realize that his arm was reattached to his body. 

‘My koto isn’t working?’ Yukie panicked as she attempted to play her koto, only to double-over in pain. ‘I was using my powers too much!’

‘Now’s my chance!’ Tobio quickly got to the stage and grabbed the koto, but Yukie had a vice grip on it. ‘Come on Tobio, you can do this!’

Ryuu started fumbling with the patterns, only to mess up the last note; causing the invisible claws to wave towards Tobio and Yukie. Tobio lets go of the koto and they both jump away from each other. Yukie picked up her koto and started to play again, slightly lifting the room’s gravity again, but Ryuu played the descending arpeggio, challenging the demon. 

They glared at each for a moment, before aggressively playing arpeggios in order to gain control over the room. Tobio felt an immense pressure as his body did not know whether to lift into the air or slam itself onto the ground. ‘I--I should have stayed with Shouyou.’ Fortunately, Tobio could smell again, as the pressure in the room stopped his nosebleed. He could smell the both of them growing weaker and weaker, but he was slightly shocked to know that Ryuu had a slight demonic smell. 

Closing his eyes, he followed the opening thread and saw it flowing in front of him.

Likewise outside, Shouyou closed his eyes and removed his muzzle, patiently waiting for his ‘opening thread’.

When the thread tightened, they made their move.

Yukie and Ryuu were unable to compete against each other, but the room’s gravity was still in a mess and they all began to float in the air. Tobio raised his sword into the air, his torso twisting, and he violently twisted his body, causing a large wind vortex and the objects in the room began to tear and break apart as the vortex cut everything it could reach.

‘Breath of Water, Sixth Form: Whirlpool!’

Shouyou hopped from cart to cart, dodging the monster as it tried to reach up and catch him. Keisuke followed behind him, using the carts as a cover. Shouyou dove straight into the puddle, and Keisuke stabbed his spear into the monster’s leg. His spear pierced through the puddle on the ground, causing Kaori to retract one of her hands from the ground; but the puddle remained in the ground. Yuu was in the back as he readied his footing. 

Shouyou came out of the other end of the puddle, right in front of Kaori, and kicked her straight into the air. Yuu felt the heat of his breath run through his body and like a bolt of lightning, his blade flashed right through Kaori. 

‘Breath of Lightning, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash.’

The building and the area surrounding it crumbled as the demons were defeated. Ryuu and Tobio quickly took cover under tables, Keisuke took cover under the carts, and Shouyou jumped into and wrapped Yuu in a cloth before taking cover with him. A massive dust wave ran through the streets, and it took a few moments for the group to come back to reality.

Keisuke, Yuu, and Shouyou quickly ran over to the fallen building, lifting the rubble and searching for their companions. Keisuke threw a large piece out of the way and saw a hand.

“I think I found them.” He shouted to the shorter pair, who quickly came over to remove some of the other rubble pieces and pulled an unconscious Ryuu and a semi-conscious Tobio out of the remains. “Let’s get you guys back to the teahouse.” 

Shouyou nodded and Keisuke helped hoist Tobio onto his back. Keisuke looked at Ryuu and Yuu, but his brows furrowed in worry as he saw Yuu sway back and forth. 

“Yuu-kun?” Keisuke put a hand onto his shoulder, however Yuu began to cough violently, until they saw red come from his mouth. “Are you okay?”

Yuu’s eyes were shaking as he looked up at the dark-haired male, but they were wide and bloodshot. The last words he uttered before collapsing brought chills to both Shouyou and Keisuke.

“Those demons aren’t dead yet.”

  
  
  


‘Stupid men who keep trying to harass me, stupid men who tried to kill me when I rejected them, stupid men who burned my precious instruments when I refused them, stupid people who burned me alive when I defied them.’ Yukie tightly gripped the sakura pin in her hands, as limped with Kaori on her back. ‘Someone is going to find us in these alleys, and they’re going to drag us out into the sunlight to kill us…’

“How cruel can you be, fate…” She dryly chuckled, finally falling to the ground. She closed her eyes recalling faint memories from the past.

_ That night we met, I was getting ready to sleep when I saw your shadow in my room. _

_ “If you’re going to assault me, at least be more subtle about it.” I spit out, wrapping the new bandages on my arms. To my surprise, the voice that reached out to me was a woman’s. _

_ “Why do you put up with such treatment, when you know by allowing that man to take you could free you?” _

_ I wasn’t looking at her, but I’m sure she knew how annoyed I was. “Me? An oiran, obtaining freedom? How laughable.” _

_ “Laughable? Or desirable?” _

_ That was all she said and I turned around to say something to her, but she was already gone. _

_ The next time we met, the nobleman who desired me had burned my precious koto.  _

_ “Why are you here again?” I was hunched over the burnt remains of my beloved koto when I saw her shadow again. _

_ “Do you desire to go elsewhere?” _

_ “Where can I go? My family is here, in the teahouse, I am their pride.” _

_ “But are you happy? You don’t have much time until they pressure you to marry that man.” _

_ I looked up at her and she sat at the windowsill, her high flowing in the gentle night wind. The moonlight shadowed her face, but she was the semblance of what I desired most. _

_ “I am not happy, but if I leave, I am nothing.” _

_ She didn’t say anything else, but she took my koto before she left. _

_ The third time we met, it was an unpleasant meeting. _

_ “How dare you defy us! _

_ “You are a disgrace to our family Yukie!” _

_ It doesn’t hurt anymore, but I can’t breath.  _

_ I can’t remember these faces, but all I can feel is anger. _

_ “Hey, do you have any other courtesans?” _

_ “She was our highest courtesan, but if you can settle for someone more obedient, then will it suffice?” _

_ Of course, that’s all I am to you.  _

_ All I am, or was, was your ticket to a life of luxury. _

_ … _

_ … _

_ “Hey,” my blackened voice strained my entire body, but I had to call for her, “please, save me--” _

_ “Ugh, she’s still alive? I’ll finish her off.” _

_ A black shadow appeared in front of me again, and all I could hear was screaming. _

_ … _

_ … _

_ “Yukie? Are you alive?” _

_ … _

_ … _

_ “Don’t worry, Yukie, I’ll protect you from now on.” _

  
  
  


“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” 

Yukie’s eyes slowly looked up to a blurred black figure, but she was too weak to know who it was.

“Such power would be wasted if I let you both die here, but do not worry,” the figure knelt down in front of them, his hands touching their heads, “I won’t let your powers go to waste.”

  
  
  


Yuu woke up after two days of rest, but he felt incredibly weak. 

“Yuu!” His head slowly moved to look over at his best friend, who was worriedly looming over him.

“Ryu…” He quietly said before coughing. ‘My lungs feel like they're on fire, what happened?’

“Ryuu-san, is Yuu-san awake now?” Tobio's voice came from the other side of the door. 

“Yes, you can come in.” Tobio and Shouyou entered the room, carefully closing the door behind him. “Did the doctor say anything?”

Tobio’s expression was grave, and Shouyou put his hand onto Tobio’s back. “They extracted black sludge from inside his lungs, and it was the same one that the swamp demon produced.”

Ryuu’s eyes closed as he clenched his fist. “It doesn’t make any sense, we were able to cut their heads off! We did everything right! So why?”

“If I could propose a theory, Ryuu-san,”--Tobio and Shouyou took a seat next to the futon--“but Keisuke-san said that the swamp demon was able to produce swamp monsters. So it may be possible that they swapped themselves out and used the building collapse as a diversion to escape. I think it is possible, however, that they had to control the clones and may have the injuries that we inflicted onto them.”

“Tobio, the only way to save Yuu is to kill those demons. If they’ve escaped, then Yuu is going to die.” Ryuu felt a cold hand on top of his own, and Yuu had weakly reached his hand out to his friend. Ryuu brought the hand up to his forehead, his eyes heating up. Under his breath he uttered an apology. “I’m sorry Yuu, I’m so sorry.”

The room was quiet, until they heard a gentle knock at the door. It slid open to reveal Kuzuri and Keisuke, who were carrying several items. 

“Sorry for the intrusion.” Kuzuri said as she and Keisuke placed some items onto the ground. “I heard about the doctor’s report, and I would like to apologize for the inconvenience we have caused you.”

“Don’t apologize Kuzuri-san.”

“I’d like to thank you, however, for protecting me and Keisuke, as well as all those people in the district.” Kuzuri bowed to the ground, along with the guard, and the group waved their hands even more. When she rose up, she pulled an object from the pile, pushing it towards the group. “We don’t have much right now considering all that has happened, so I hope you will accept some information as a reward for what you’ve done.”

“What kind of information?” Tobio slightly leaned in.

Kuzuri opened the box, pulling out a floral hairpin, as well as a note. “There is a doctor in our country, who is said to have been able to heal any person they come across. So I firmly believe that if you went to her, she may be of help to you.”

Ryuu perked up and moved closer to the teahouse owner, taking the box into his hands and taking out the note.

“She’s currently residing in Asakusa, but she routinely moves because she said she was trying to hide from someone.” Kuzuri explained, presenting the hairpin to the group. “She said that if I ever needed a favor, send this pin and a note to her Asakusa office. I’ve already sent her the letter, but take this pin with you so she can find you.”

“Thank you for everything Kuzuri-san!” Ryuu cried out as he bowed in front of her.

Tobio quirked his head in confusion. “How do you know this doctor?”

“She used to be settled here, but some jealous doctors burned her office down and I sheltered her and her apprentice in my teahouse. She helped treat me, Nozomu, and Keisuke when we became seriously ill.” Kuzuri’s eyes shifted downward when she said Nozomu’s name, and Keisuke’s fist tightly clenched his robe. 

“Ah,” Tobio and Shouyou hummed at the same time, and Tobio excused himself from the room, quickly returning with an item in hand. “Shouyou had used this to wrap around Yuu-san, but I think he pulled this out of the swamp demon’s puddle.”

Kuzuri and Keisuke took the item out of his hands and unfolded it to reveal a haori. Kuzuri covered her mouth as tears began to fall from her eyes, and whatever emotion Keisuke was holding back spilled over and he hugged the haori close to his chest.

“This is Nozomu’s haori!” Kuzuri cried into her hands, and the grief in the room crushed them.

A lesson that they all knew, that they would always know because of this path they chose:

_ You cannot save everyone. _

  
  
  


Bonus:

  
  
  


Kageyama: This chapter was an especially rocky one wasn’t it?

Hinata: It sure was, it was very exciting, and then it got super intense, and then it got really depressed in the end…

Kageyama: All I can hope for is that we can save Nishinoya-senpai in time.

Hinata: Mm. And now it’s time for the Taisho Secret. Nozomu-san and Keisuke-san bickered a lot, and Keisuke-san liked to mess up Nozomu-san’s hair, while Nozomu-san would pinch Keisuke-san’s face.

Kageyama: That’s all we have this time, but come back for the next chapter: The Demon Doctor.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've started my summer job since school is out, so my updating schedule has been thrown out the window. But I do promise that I'll update once within a week, whether its back to back like a Saturday-Sunday update, or a Saturday to the next Saturday update. 
> 
> That being said, I did not actually expect to end the chapter like this because I was going to try and get the gang to Asakusa. Nor was I expecting to hurt Noya like this (well that's actually a lie but it's going to get better I promise). Anyways, I appreciate any and all comments, and if you ever feel like harassing me or bugging me for future plotlines, my twitter is @happysnakey (ignore my tweets pls)
> 
> Anyway I'm about to start rambling,,,and to all those who read the manga,,,I LITERALLY DIED BECAUSE OF 395


	8. The Demon Doctor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My updating schedule is a zoo and I am the main attraction

Yukie sat in a lone room, tuning her koto. She softly hummed to herself as she continued to tweak the instrument, and did not stop as she heard the door behind her open.

“What do you need this time, my lord?” 

“Just checking on my favorite musician.”

Yukie played a few notes on the koto, causing the doors to open and the room turned into a massive labyrinth. Rooms and pathways floated in the giant fortress, as she continued to hum a song.

“Your improvement in the past few days alone astound me, you are a demon with high potential to become an upper moon.”

“Don’t you mean a lower moon, my lord? Your current upper moons are more that capable of defeating me in an instant.”

“Oh my dear Yukie.” She stopped playing as a hand gripped her chin and pulled her attention to a pair of piercing red eyes. “I’m only thinking for the far future, when I see changes in my Demon Moons.”

‘They look just like that boy’s....’

“That boy’s? Are you referring to someone you encountered before?”

“Yes my lord. There were two strange boys at the scene, one of them was a damned slayer, and the other one,” she grit her teeth in disgust and clenched her fist, “the other one was a demon!”

“A demon?” The man’s expression wavered.

“Yes, it was a boy with bright orange hair, and he had hanafuda earrings!”

“Hanafuda earrings?” The man let go of her face, and turned to leave the room. “Open an entrance for me. And continue your practice my dear, I’ll speed up your companion’s recovery if you continue to do well.”

Yukie perked up and diligently went back to strumming her koto. The man hummed in approval as he stepped down the moving buildings, before hopping out the open door.

  
  
  


_ “Yuu-san?” _

_ “Who are you?” _

_ “I promise Yuu-san.” _

_ “Promise me what?”  _

_ “No matter what, I promised that I would protect all humans!” _

_ “Who are you?” _

_ “You need to wake up now, you need to wake up.” _

“--nghh--”

Yuu felt a gentle shake as he stirred awake. His eyes felt incredibly heavy as he saw the blue sky, as well as a large wooden box.

“--? Are you awake now?” He heard Ryuu’s voice, but he couldn’t get up. “--worry Yuu, we’re on our wa--.”

“We’re what?” Yuu croaked out as he began to cough, realizing his throat was incredibly dry. He felt a hand on his back as someone lifted his body up, putting his mouth against something. ‘I feel like I’m suffocating!’

“Please drink Yuu-san.” His eyes drooped as he started to sip from the gourd, and immediately he fell asleep again. Tobio lowered his body to the cart and covered him with the blanket again. He looked at Ryuu’s back, who held the reins to the horses. “How much longer do you think it’ll be until we get to Asakusa?”

“It should be another few hours, considering we’ve been riding nonstop for the last few days.” 

Tobio nodded and resumed staring at the passing scenery. He could sense the tension from Ryuu, but he wasn’t sure how to “comfort” him. That was more of Shouyou’s thing, but it was daytime and he would rather not turn Shouyou into ashes at the moment. But before he could say anything, Ryuu spoke up again.

“Once we save Yuu, we’re going to have a serious talk about you and that demon you have with you.”

Tobio felt any possible sentences get lodged in his throat as he grew incredibly nervous. “Yes, I’ll tell you everything after this.”

The rest of the ride to Asakusa continued in silence, Tobio continuing to stare at the scenery in front of him, Ryuu continued to guide the horses, while Yuu and Shouyou slept away. By late afternoon, they reached the outskirts of Asakusa; but they had to ditch the cart because like Kyoto, the nightlife was incredibly busy.

‘I’ve never seen something like that before!’ Tobio stared intensely at the water spewing out of a stone sculpture, before feeling a tug on his haori.

“You look a little tired?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Would you like to buy a bowl of udon?”

“Tobio! Let’s go.” Ryuu called out to him, waving to the person who took their cart away.

“I’ll have to take the offer another time, sorry sir.”

He met with Ryuu who was walking into the main streets of Asakusa, while carrying Yuu on his back.

“Will it be suspicious to carry Yuu-san on your back?” 

“Isn’t it suspicious to be carrying a box big enough to carry a person?”

They quietly wandered through the streets of the busy nightlife, with Tobio flinching at the obnoxiously bright lights. He heard the wooden box get kicked open, and he saw Shouyou drowsily stand by his side.

“Did you just wake up?”

“Mm mm.”

“And are you absolutely positive that you can stand?”

“Mm mm.” 

Shouyou nodded his head too hard, and nearly fell to the ground had Tobio not caught him. Tobio sighed and he grabbed Shouyou’s hand to guide him through the streets. 

“Did the note have an address on it?”

“Nope, it just said to meet up in this part of the city.”

“The outskirts? But weren’t we just there?”

“That’s what I thought, but it said to go to one of the fountains.”

“But didn’t we pass a fountain on our way here?”

“Kuzuri-san said there was an udon stand near the fountain.”

“But wasn’t there a man who tried to sell us udon,  **at** the fountain?”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Are we--”

“I think we should turn around.”

“I second that.”

Unfortunately, they couldn’t remember which alley they came from.

“Was it this one?”

“No it doesn’t smell right.”

“What about this one?”

“Not that one either. It doesn’t smell right.”

“Well if it doesn’t smell right, then why don’t you go and sniff out the udon.”

“Yessir!”

“Wha-DON’T CROUCH ON THE GROUND LIKE THAT, PEOPLE ARE STARING!”

It was going incredibly well.

“Wait,” Tobio sniffed the air, before going down an alleyway, “I SMELL THE UDON!”

Ryuu shouted in disbelief before chasing after Tobio and Shouyou. He was able to keep them in view as they took the twist and turns to reach the fountain again. As soon as he spots Tobio again, who was talking to the Udon stand owner, he grabbed him by his shoulders and started shaking him.

“SLOW DOWN FOR A SECOND OH MY GOD.”

“I’m sorry Ryuu-san, but we should take a seat!”

“PROMISE ME THAT YOU’LL BE MORE CAREFUL FROM NOW ON!”

‘Like you’re someone who should be giving me that advice?’ “I promise!”

“Good.” Ryuu’s voice immediately toned down and he laid Yuu on the bench before sitting in front of it. Tobio and Shouyou sat down on the bench next to them and Tobio stared at the fountain in front of him. Shouyou leaned his head onto Tobio’s shoulders as he listened to the falling water. 

“Here are two bowls of udon!” The owner came out with a tray and handed them to Tobio and Ryuu, who both watered at the smell of the hot bowl. 

“Thank you for the meal.” They both said and before Tobio could take a bite, he began to gag at a smell that infested the area. He dropped the bowl as Shouyou stood up as well, whose eyes turned into slits. 

“Tobio? What’s wrong?” Ryuu asked as he put the bowl onto the bench. 

“Stay here Ryuu-san!” Shouyou burst off immediately, and Tobio wasted no time in following him and the smell. 

“TOBIO!” Ryuu screeched as he stood up, spilling the udon. “What did I just say about being careful?”

“My udon!”

Meanwhile, even though Tobio lost Shouyou, he could still follow the smell. There was no denying it, it was that smell.  **That** smell.

Shouyou’s already disarrayed thoughts were running rampant as he followed the red mist on the ground. Screams of terror, pleads of mercy, splatters of blood; they completely stained his mind. Drool spilled from his mouth as he pushed and shoved people out of his way. He saw the back of a man in a black suit, and he reached his hand out, claw-like nails reaching even further.

Tobio on the other hand, followed the gaps of people who stood in confusion after being shoved by Shouyou. Deep in his memories, he thought of that snowy morning. Of Natsu’s bloody corpse, raked with tears and scratches in her skin. Of Kouji’s limbs strewn across the house. Of Yukitaka’s broken limbs, crumpled near the entrance. Of Hinata-san’s torn up waist, as she sat against the screen door. Finally, he caught sight of Shouyou’s outreached hand and yanked him back into his body.

Panting heavily, the distrubed man turned around, red eyes glaring at them. “Can I help you?” Shouyou’s hands crumpled Tobio’s uniform, unable to retract the long nails. Tobio glared at the figure in front of him, before the man turned around completely. In his arms, was a young girl.

They both gasped. ‘This man has a child?’

“Honey? What’s wrong?” A young woman in her 20s approached the man out of nowhere, seemingly concerned for this man in front of them. “Are you two okay? You look a little pale.”

Shouyou and Tobio held onto each other, as they tried to fathom this scene in front of them. ‘How? How does this man, who has probably killed millions of people, have a family? How is that possible?’

As they both stood distractedly, the man eyed a couple passing by them. He reached his hand out, scratching the man’s neck. The man hunched over in pain, holding his neck in pain.

“Dear, what’s wrong?” 

The pair felt time stop, as they watched the man turn and lunge at his wife, plunging his teeth into her neck. She started screaming in terror, and all the people stared in horror as he attacked her.

“Shouyou, you need to get out of here now.” He whispered into the boy’s ear, who was looking back and forth between the two men. “I know you want to help, but you can’t. There’s too many people.”

Swallowing his feelings, Shouyou slipped away into one of the alleys. Tobio got right into action, slipping his mask over his face and he tackled the man off his wife. He shoved his forearm into the man’s mouth, while sitting on top of his struggling form. If the man had been a full-fledged demon, Tobio wouldn’t even think to do what he was doing right now. Tobio could smell the man’s scent getting fainter, realizing he used this as a diversion.

“I swear I’ll get you! You’ll pay for all the people you’ve hurt!” Tobio hollered as he continued to restrain the man in front of him. “We will find you! And we will defeat you! I swear on my life that I will do everything in my power to bring you down!”

The man and his family got further and further away, and Tobio heard the hollers of people circling around him. He saw two men dressed in dark uniforms run towards him, grabbing his haori.

“You don’t understand! I can’t let go of this man!” Tobio yelled, clinging onto the man as the two weird men tried to pull him off. “I can’t let go!”

“We can see that he has your arm in his mouth, and we are trying to separate you both the best we can!” One of the men said to him, attempting to pry off the man’s mouth. 

“Please let me go!” Tobio screamed. One of the men pulled out a black stick and prepared to beat him. Suddenly, floral patterns in the air waved through and separated Tobio from the two men. “What is this?”

“Tobio!” 

“Ryuu-san?”

His senior ran over to him and pulled him away from the demon, hugging him tightly.

“What did I just tell you about being careful?!”

“I’m sorry Ryuu-san, but the man who turned Shouyou into a demon? He’s here.”

“Wait a minute, what? We have to tell the master about this!” Ryuu leapt to try and call his messenger crow, but was interrupted by the presence of two others.

“You mustn't do that.” The floral patterns cleared up and appeared two people, a young man and a woman, the woman had her arm raised, blood dripping from it. But with a wave of her other hand, the wound healed. “I will take the man and the woman with me, but you both need to get away from here.”

As the floral patterns cleared, Tobio and Ryuu made a run for it into one of the alleyways, while the two strangers swept away the man. They ran and ran until finally, they were in front of the udon stand again. Only to be berated by the stand owner.

“I put my life and soul into those bowls of udon, and the two of you just go up and running as if you were two hooligans?”

“We’re sorry sir…” They drew out as they hunched over in shame. “We can buy another bowl if you’d like?”

“It doesn’t matter about the money or the wasted food, what matters is the effort and care that went into it! Put your heart into it!” The man passionately spoke, before pointing at a sleeping Yuu and Shouyou. “And these two should wake up and get a good meal too! The reason they’re so sleepy and small is because of the fact that they haven’t eaten a single thing!”

Ryuu and Tobio immediately grabbed the man’s shoulders and had an intense look on their faces. “We’ll order another bowl of udon, two for each of us!”

“Sure?” The man quickly prepared four more bowls for them and gawked as they inhaled their first bowl, before picking up their second bowl. 

“Thank you for the meal sir!” Ryuu waved at the man, hoisting Yuu onto his back again. “And thank you for watching over the two of them.”

“It’s not a problem, just make sure to get them checked out.” The owner smiled at them, slightly concerned over how they slept through the commotion.

“We’ll come back again soon.” Tobio pulled Shouyou along with him, who was waving at the eccentric owner.

“As long as you learned a lesson on true culinary arts, that’s all that matters to me!”

They stopped under a lamppost, all of them sighing over the commotion. “Do you think you can sniff out that woman?” Tobio shook his head, and Ryuu, for the millionth time today, sighed. 

“Oi.” The pair looked over at a young man standing in front of them, arms crossed as he glowered at them. “You guys are the Demon Slayers Kuzuri-neesan told us about, right?”

“Yes. Were you that boy on the streets earlier?” Tobio stepped forward and questioned, only to have a hand shot out in front of him.

“I’m here to take you to her house, but don’t come near me.” He rolled his eyes at them, pointing at them. “Especially that vermin right there, keep him five miles away from me.”

‘...Vermin? You mean like a pest?’ Tobio thought to himself. ‘Who’s he calling a pest?’ Following where the boy was pointing, he realized, ‘Shouyou?!’

“What’s the big idea of calling us vermin, punk?” Ryuu scowled at him, going into psycho senior mode. On his back, a semi-conscious Yuu wanted to pounce this boy, and Tobio silently seethed. “Say something you punk!” 

And Shouyou? Shouyou was confused.

They were not on the same page.

The boy looked indifferent to what they were saying and simply turned around and started walking away from them. “We’ve got no time to waste.”

“Hold up you punk! How dare you call us vermin, I’ll kick your ass you little bi-”

“No cursing Ryu.”

“Sorry, Yuu. But as I was saying, do you want to catch these hands, because I’m going to give you a whooping of a lifetime!”

  
  
  


In the deep alleyways of Asakusa, the woman and the child shed off their disguises, unlike the man in front of them. Kneeling before him, the two demons had their heads lowered.

“I don’t believe I have to explain myself now. Find those boys and bring those two boys with you.”

“Yessir.” The two vanished instantly, but the man stood in the alleyway, an intense look in his eyes.

‘I thought I killed every last one of those brats.’

  
  
  


Finally stopping in front of a wall, Ryuu was still shouting insults at the boy for the vermin comment, and Tobio was ready to blow. But to their surprise, the boy disappeared. They looked around in confusion, until a hand from inside the wall beckoned them in. Stepping through the wall, they saw a house with many sakura trees surrounding it.

They followed the boy inside the house, where they met up with the woman who had saved them. She sat next to a bed, where the injured woman laid. She gets up from her chair to greet them.

“Forgive me for the commotion back in the mainstreet. I’m glad you all could make it.” She had a gentle way of speaking, but her overall presence was strange. “Kuzuri told me about your friend, could you please take him upstairs so I can examine him?”

Ryuu hesitated, adjusting Yuu on his back. “Can I be there with him?”

“Of course.”

Ryuu looked back at Tobio and Shouyou before following the woman upstairs, leaving them with the rude boy. Tobio continued to glower at the boy, who glared back at him. 

“Come with me.” He finally said, opening the door to the next room. “Stay in this room until we get back, got it?”

Tobio ‘hmphed’ as he and Shouyou sat on the tatami mat in the other room, the boy closing the door. “I hope Yuu-san is going to be okay.”

  
  
  


_ Ching _

_ Ching _

_ Ching _

“Hey Shunki, how much longer until we reach the end of the footsteps?”

“Patience, Takeru, we’re still in need of a plan to take them down.”

“Right, right, it’s going to be with conviction right?”

“With the honor of a lower moon, we’ll crush them.”

_ Ching  _

_ Ching _

_ Ching  _

  
  
  


Ryuu left the room after the pair finished the examination, attempting to fathom what was going on. 

‘I know the Insect Pillar is a doctor, but that woman was so incredibly calm the entire time! Even when she stuck that stick down Yuu’s throat, what was that about?’ Ryuu rubbed his head, seated on the ground. ‘I couldn’t protect him.’

The door opened again, and the pair walked out, the woman holding a clipboard in hand. “We’ve finished the examination. Could you please get him for us? We’ll discuss everything downstairs if you don’t mind.”

“Huh? It’s not a problem.” Ryuu stood up and dusted off his uniform, he entered the room and picked up Yuu. He followed them downstairs and went into the room where Tobio and Shouyou were. He saw Tobio scramble getting back up, accidentally shoving Shouyou off of him, who made angry ‘hmphs’ at him. Ryuu couldn’t help but laugh at the two, sitting next to them. “Before we begin, could you please tell us your names?”

“Oh, forgive me. I can’t believe I forgot to introduce myself.” The woman blushed slightly, before composing herself again. “My name is Misaki Hana, but you may refer to me any way you please. This boy right here is Tsutomu”--the boy scowled at Shouyou again and the Demon Slayers got defensive again--”and he is one of my demons.”

“One of your demons? Wait a minute, you’re a demon? But I thought only the demon king could create demons?” Ryuu said in disbelief, before getting jabbed in the side by Tsutomu. “What was that for?”

“Don’t interrupt Misaki-sama!” 

“Tsutomu.”

“Sorry ma’am.” Tsutomu immediately sat, prim and proper once more, slightly smug. 

“As I was saying, yes, he is one of them.” Misaki answered. “I used to serve under the demon king, but over the course of several centuries, I was able to rework my body so that I am free of his control.”

“That’s incredible.” Tobio and Ryuu awed. ‘Such a strong woman!’

“Tsutomu is the only successful instance I had of someone becoming a demon because of my own power, but even then he took many decades to become fully-healed.” 

“You’re still very strong Misaki-sama!” Tsutomu cheered. 

Misaki smiled and finally pulled out the clipboard. “Before we get further off-tangent, let’s discuss everything I discovered:

“Through the physical checkup, I found a lot of muscle deterioration, which is abnormal because Demon Slayers are incredibly fit and the rate his body was weakening was incredibly fast. When I looked over some of his saliva, there were traces of a Blood Demon Art inside his body.

“You were unable to kill the demons during the mission, therefore the effects of the Blood Demon Art were not able to fade and have intensified inside his body. I’m not sure how it got into his lungs, but I believe the black puddle has coated his lungs, which is resulting in the internal damage of his body.”

Ryuu and Tobio were in disbelief as Misaki finished her review, and Tobio could smell the fear in Ryuu’s body. He decided to place his hand on top of his senior’s, gently gripping it in reassurance. Ryuu returned the gesture, looking back at the demon doctor.

“Is there any way to fight it, until we kill that demon?”

“There’s a lot of the black fluid in his body, so if I can extract enough of it, I could create an antidote. And this is where I transition to you two, Tobio and Shouyou.” Tobio perked up, and Shouyou continued to roll around on the ground. “When Kuzuri wrote to me about Shouyou, I knew I had to meet him. I believed I was one of the only demon who defied the demon king’s control, but I’d like to hear his story.”

Tobio took a moment, before starting from the very beginning. From that snowy morning where he found everyone in the household dead, his encounter with Sakusa (which greatly shocked Ryuu and Yuu), as well as Shouyou’s two-year slumber, he told them everything about their journey so far. 

“A sleep hypnosis technique? So you’re also saying that Shouyou has a command in order to further prevent him from attacking humans?” Ryuu felt like he had lost his marbles at this point.

“It’s most likely, considering that there were many injured people in Kyoto and he did not attempt to attack any of them.” Misaki reasoned, before thinking once more. “I think in the two years Shouyou was asleep, he too, was trying to rework his body.”

“What do you mean?” Tobio questioned, and he looked down at Shouyou tugging his hand to his hand. Tobio smiled as he patted his head.

“From what you’ve told me, Shouyou was trying to find a way to survive without eating demons. Sleeping is the best way, considering your lifestyle of constant travelling.” Misaki chuckled as she watched the two of them. 

Ryuu sat with his head down, and Yuu was mostly conscious at this point, and they both felt the change in their hearts. 

“Your desire to turn him back into a human is admirable, and I hope you will help me in this project I have. I am hoping to create a drug that will turn a demon back into a human, a sort of antidote that will save people who’ve become demons, such as Shouyou and that man you restrained.”

“What will you need for the drug?” 

“I will need the demon king’s blood, as well as blood from anyone who serves under him. Specifically, the Twelve Demon Moons.”

Tobio was unfamiliar with the term, but Ryuu and Yuu perked up at the mention. “The Twelve Demon Moons? Finding them is difficult enough, but getting their blood is going to be a life-or-death situation!”

“Who are the Twelve Demon Moons?” Tobio felt incredibly behind in the conversation, feeling a little upset over the lack of knowledge.

“The Twelve Demon Moons serve under the demon king himself, and they are all incredibly powerful. The reason why I need their blood is because they have high concentrations of the demon king’s blood, which will help me in understanding and composing a better and more effective drug.” 

Tsutomu stood up, suddenly alert after being completely immobile for the last few minutes. 

“Everybody get down now!”

Tobio immediately moved to cover Shouyou, Ryuu threw himself on top of Yuu, and Tsutomu tackled Misaki to the ground. Two temari balls crashed through the walls and started destroying everything in the house.

“Someone needs to take that woman in the other room to the basement!” Misaki shouted as the building began to fall apart. 

“Tobio, watch over Yuu for me!” Ryuu screamed as he got up and carefully ran into the next room. Tobio did as told, and he was laying on top of Shouyou and Yuu. 

Following the scent of the temari balls, Tobio realized that there was not one, but two demons inside the protected area. ‘But how did they get inside? Surely they would have more security measures!’

“So this is what was behind that seal?” A demon with piercing yellow eyes and a shaved head caught both of temari balls, bouncing them on the ground. “I think I know how to complete this assignment Shunki!”

A demon with spiky maroon hair and closed eyes stood at his side, his arms raised. “And what would that be, Takeru?”

“With conviction of course!” 

The two temari balls were thrown back into the house and parts of the foundation began to collapse, stressing out Misaki.

“Ugh, so annoying!” Tsutomu growled, following the sight of the balls. He spotted one ball lagging behind the other, and he attempted to grab it; only for the ball to dodge his hand and swerve through the air. The ball went straight for Tsutomu’s head, destroying it on impact.

“Tsutomu!” Tobio got up from the ground, pulling out his sword. Seeing one of the balls quickly approaching him, he slices it in half; but to everyone’s shock the two halves swerve and hit his sides. The impact was the same as being punched by that hand demon in the final selection, and Tobio groaned in pain. The temari balls were called back again and Tobio went to the hole in the wall, spotting the two demons. ‘They smell more powerful than the demons in Kyoto.’

The temari demon stopped bouncing the balls and squinted at Tobio. “Hey Shunki, isn’t that the same boy with the hanafuda kid?”

“It would appear so, meaning that the hanafuda kid is here as well.” Shunki deduced, his hands raised over his eyes. Tobio could see, however, that there were eyes on his palms; he wondered what kind of abilities that one could have. “If we hurt that boy right there, I wonder if the hanafuda kid will come out?”

“There’s only one way to find out.”

Looking behind him, Tobio checked on Shouyou and Yuu, who were still lying on the ground. He looked at Misaki and Tsutomu, but couldn’t quite hear what she was saying to him. To his surprise, however, Tsutomu’s head had grown back, only his mouth was visible at this point.

“I told you we shouldn’t have brought them here!” He shouted in anger, but not towards her. “We should have met them at the fountain, like we had originally planned! But now the demon king has found us.”

“But that boy would have died if we didn’t do the proper examinations Tsutomu, and he would have found us anyway since he’s here in Asakusa.” Misaki sighed, making eye contact with Tobio. “I know this may be a lot to ask, but Tsutomu will need a moment to go into attack mode. So please hold them off until he and your companion join you again.”

Tobio looked to Shouyou and told him to take Yuu to the basement. As Shouyou crawled off with him, Tobio warily stood up again. Carefully sniffing the air, Tobio closed his eyes in order to get a better image of the temari balls direction. With one of the balls swerving towards him, Tobio quickly cut the ball in half, only for the two halves to hit him anyway. ‘So the balls will hit their target no matter what?’ 

‘How about this then?’ Tobio put only one hand on his sword, one hand reached forward, the other one pulled back. The thread was fast, but fortunately, this form was faster. ‘Breath of Water, Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust.’ His sword stabbed the center of the temari, but the ball overwhelmed him in strength and rebounded to his face. 

Misaki pulled a slip of paper from inside her kimono, throwing it to Tobio. “This will give you demon-like eyesight temporarily, but I hope this will help you in some way!”

Tobio put the slip onto his forehead, and almost immediately he could see red arrows that guided the temari ball. Tobio cut through one of the arrows, which immediately stopped one of the balls. ‘So that’s why they’ve been coming back at me! The other demon must be controlling the ball’s direction.’ 

“Ugh, looks like the kid figured out our plan.”

“Seems like it. I’m going to find a better spot, hold ground here.”

Tobio couldn’t chase after the other demon who fled into the surrounding trees and the temari demon removed his robe’s top, sprouting out more arms. With the additional arms, there were more temari balls, their bounce chiming through the area.

“Once we capture the hanafuda boy, I’ll finally become a full-fledged Demon Blood Moon!” Takeru exclaimed, throwing the six temari balls into the house. Tobio dodged the balls to the best of his ability, but unfortunately Misaki and Tsutomu were hit and lost chunks of their bodies.

“Injuries like these aren’t going to kill us Tobio, focus on the battle!” Tsutomu shouted over the crashes, already regenerating his shoulder. Tobio nodded and ran straight out of the hole in the wall, the arrows following after him. He continued to run in a zigzag pattern, before turning around.

‘Breath of Water, Third Form: Flowing Dance.’ Tobio thought to himself, his body flowing like the violent waves in the waterfall at Mt. Sagiri. He also recalled the footwork that Shouyou taught him and incorporated it into flowing dance. He felt his movements were a lot better, and his breathing was more efficient. His blade felt hot in his hands as he cut through the arrows and the temari balls, and he cut off the arms of the temari demon. 

Tsutomu and Misaki moved closer to the hole in the wall as they watched Tobio fight. Ryuu had returned from the basement, sword drawn and gun loaded, but he was also in awe of Tobio’s graceful movements. Tsutomu and Ryuu were in complete awe of the water that streamed off of his sword, but in Misaki’s eyes, the water was steaming like fire. 

‘I thought that style was lost…’ 

“Misaki-san!” Tobio shouted, quickly looking back at the house. “You said I needed to get blood from demons who are close to the demon king right? Well, I’ll accept your deal, and I will get the blood from the Demon Moon in front of me!”

  
  
  


Bonus:

  
  
  


Sakusa: Where is Kageyama and Hinata? Why aren’t they doing this bonus?

Komori: They’re in the middle of a battle, Kiyoomi.

Sakusa: So? You and I both know we would have ended that battle in a second. 

Komori: Well you’re a pillar and they’re kids!

Sakusa: We are literally five years older than them!

Komori: THINK ABOUT THE CHILDREN KIYOOMI!

Sakusa: We’re going to have to speed through the Taisho secret at this rate. Tanaka Ryuu’s older sister is one of the pillars, and Nishinoya Yuu’s grandfather was a former pillar.

Komori: BUT THE CHILDREN!

Sakusa: MOTOYA.

[The preview has run overtime. The next chapter is: Together Forever.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember how I said that I found the beginning really boring and I was suffering during the rewatch??? I'm sorry guys, but the story will pick up when we reach Natagumo Mountain because that arc was BOMB,,,I promise we'll get there
> 
> Anyways, how has everyone been? The beginning of June has been completely and utterly wild, and I hope all of you are safe and well. My coworkers make me want to pop a blood vessel sometimes, and my graduation, which was delayed for an entire month now, is finally happening this saturday yayyyy
> 
> Stay safe, watch Avatar: The Last Airbender, drink some tea or your favorite drink, do something relaxing, and I'll see you guys soon.


	9. Together Forever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please excuse the fact that I typed this on my phone because I’m on a (terrible) family trip. You guys can call me out for all the grammar mistakes just spare me from this trip

Nishinoya Yuu’s life was not tragic, but it wasn’t the happiest tale to recall.

He did not know who his parents were, or if he even had parents. All he knew was that he had a grandfather who loved him so dearly. The lack of parents in his life left him quite skittish and fearful of everything; so when he met his grandfather for the first time, he was absolutely terrified. His grandfather made him do so many things that scared him, like climbing a tree and making him get down without a rope. Or teaching him how to ride a horse.

All before he was even five years old.

But after all the tears and hiccups were washed away, he emerged laughing and brimming with joy. Because his grandfather always told him this:  _ “Behind every fear is a wasted opportunity.” _ And as he continued to live and learn under his grandfather, he never lived in fear again.

  
  
  


_ “Hey Tobio, what are you and Shouyou doing?” _

_ “He’s showing me a traditional dance his family does.” _

_ “And it uses a stick?” _

_ “An ornamental sword actually, Ryuu-san.” _

Loud crashes and rumbles shook Yuu awake, who was looking at the ceiling above. He groaned and coughed as he tried to sit up, but he felt a hand on his back help him up. He saw Shouyou tending to him and all the other patients in the basement. 

‘Tobio said you lost your whole family and was turned into a demon, you could’ve gone down a path of anger and blindsided wrath. And yet,’—Shouyou threw himself on top of the injured woman when the wooden beam snapped—‘you still choose to protect humans, regardless of what they may have done,’ Yuu thought to himself, resting his back against the wall. He beckoned Shouyou towards him and he stroked Shouyou’s head as he laid in his lap. A strange constricting feeling possessed his body, and he felt a light tremble over his body. Was it the black mud in his lungs, or was it the return of an emotion long forgotten? 

“You know Shouyou? Even if Misaki-san creates a treatment for my messed up lungs, I won’t be able to fight again. Although,” Shouyou tilted his head when Yuu sadly smiled at him, “I wouldn’t want my final mission to be a failed one.”

Shouyou helped Yuu use the broken beams to create a barrier around the injured woman. They got near the entrance of the basement and peeked their heads to see Tobio talking to (read: yelling at) the temari demon. They snuck around the rubble and went out the front door of the house. In the sakura trees, after a short time looking for it, was the arrow demon. Moving quickly and silently, Shouyou sprung into the air and kicked the arrow demon. 

Shunki grunted and cursed under his breath as he brought his arms to shield his face. Shouyou continued to kick and hit him until he was forced off the tree, while Yuu called for his messenger crow. Shunki pointed his palms at Shouyou and he was thrown over the building, landing right on top of Tobio.

Before then, Tobio had been fighting against the temari demon, who seemed to panic as the arrows guiding his balls disappeared and Tobio was able to cut right through them. Ryuu, who had gotten the paper from Misaki, stopped any temari balls that flew towards her or Tsutomu. They were both shocked when Shouyou fell from the sky and crashed into Tobio, and that was when they noticed the arrow demon angrily making his way towards them. 

“What happened to hiding?” Takeru growled as he stared at Shunki, who was covered in dirt. Shunki leaned into his ear and whispered something, and while Takeru looked perplexed, he used his temari balls to create a dirt gust. 

Tobio and Shouyou had gotten you by then, and shielded their eyes from the gust. Tobio saw all the arrows coming around them and he believed Shouyou could see it. They both jumped into the air; one of the arrows almost caught Tobio had Ryuu not cut it.

Ryuu took cover behind one of the Sakura trees, peeking out to speak to the pair. “Tobio, go after the arrow demon. I’ll do my best to support you and Tsutomu!”

Tobio nodded and looked at Shouyou, who was glaring at the temari demon. “Can you help Ryuu-san until I’m done?” When Shouyou nodded, the two made their separate ways. 

  
  
  


_ “Hey Tobio? Has Shouyou ever used a sword before?” _

_ “Yes, why do you ask?” _

_ “He’s been staring at Yuu’s sword lately.” _

Around the building, Yuu wrapped a small piece of paper to his messenger crow’s leg. Yuu wiped his crow’s teary eyes, picking up his nichirin blade. “I’ll be okay, I promise. I just got to help clean this up for them.”

“It was an honor working with you, Nishinoya Yuu.” His crow cawed, spreading her wings out and flying away. Yuu stared at the black feathers that flew from her flight path, his expression unreadable. 

_ “‘Behind every fear is a wasted opportunity. No matter how much I fear losing my life, or letting someone die, I can’t let it deter me from what I need to do.’” _

Yuu used his sword as a crutch, standing as straight as he could. “I can’t let this blade go to waste, or else Asahi-san would be sad.”

  
  
  


Tsutomu had thankfully turned to attack mode when Ryuu and Shouyou struggled against the temari demon. The arrow demon was preoccupied by Tobio, so they thought it would be a little easier. 

Takeru bent his arms as far as he could and whipped the temari balls at them. The speed at which they were coming at was more than enough to tear their limbs apart, and Ryuu had the common sense to move out of the way. Shouyou on the other hand, still lacked his regular human consciousness and did not attempt to dodge an incoming ball.

Misaki and Ryuu realized this, as he swung his foot back. “Don’t kick the ball!/DODGE THE BALL!”

The ball made contact with his leg and tore his lower leg off. He fell on his face, groaning in pain. Takeru cackled, rubbing up to Shouyou and kicking him into the house.

“That’s one down, now for the other one.” Takeru clapped his hands together, grinning at Ryuu. But before he could get a temari ball back in his hand, an unseen force kicked him in the back; the temari ball in his right hand fell from his hand. He whipped his head around, but was jabbed in the side, causing him to drop another temari ball. Takeru realized he couldn’t feel the two arms that were hit, quickly irritating him. “Who’s there?”

Under the veil of his Blood Demon Art, Tsutomu was hitting the temari demon’s pressure points. While he did feel quite smug, Tsutomu knew his Blood Demon Art wouldn’t last much longer. He was also aware of Ryuu, and while he couldn’t say anything to him at the moment, he knew he could find an opening for one of his bullets. That man had three bullets left, so he had to make it count. 

‘Not only do we have the hanafuda kid here, but we also have that traitorous doctor here as well! If I bring them both back, I’ll be made a lower moon immediately.’ Takeru licked his lips in excitement, using his remaining four arms to create a dirt gust again. He realized that if his enemy was invisible, then he wouldn’t let his enemy see him either.

Inside the house, Misaki tended to Shouyou’s missing leg.

“This serum right here will help you regenerate faster, okay?” She spoke gently to him, and while she injected the syringe into his leg, Shouyou was staring intensely at her. In his eyes, he saw his loving mother, like that time he had gotten a massive scrape on his knee while practicing the Dance of the Fire God.

Through all the chaos of the battle against the temari demon, Tobio was having ten folds more difficulty fighting against the arrow demon. Both demons were strong together, but separately they were even stronger. Shunki tossed and thrashed Tobio without even laying a finger on him. His arrows were completely unpredictable and Tobio was being dragged across the courtyard. 

Tobio was able to get a decent stance to try and cut the arrows, only for the arrows to attach itself to his sword. He stubbornly refused to let go of his sword as he flew into the sky, however more arrows appeared above him and rapidly pushed him into the ground.

‘Breath of Water, Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin!’ Tobio quickly sliced his sword vertically, breaking his fall and landing on the ground safely. While evading and evading death, Tobio recalled anything that could help him against this demon. ‘So far, his arrows had served as a guide for the temari balls. But now they’re attaching themselves to me, even if I don’t touch them.’ He felt a strong tug against the back of his haori and once again, was pulled upward. But thinking quickly, Tobio slipped out of his haori and fell onto the ground. 

Shunki smirked as he watched this demon slayer fluster over his Blood Demon Art. ‘He’s a smart one, but he won’t last long if he keeps saving himself.’ Pointing his palms at Tobio, an arrow wrapped itself around his right arm.

As he felt his arm begin to twist, Tobio ran to the courtyard wall and ran upward. He kicked off the wall and did a backflip, the arrow disappearing. 

“That was just pure luck!” Shunki clicked his tongue in annoyance, creating a multitude of arrows that flew towards Tobio.

‘If I follow the arrow's path, it will disappear. So what will happen if I force the arrows my way?’ Standing deeper than usual, Tobio allowed the arrows to touch his blade. Combining the sixth form:  _ Whirlpool _ and the third form:  _ Flowing Dance _ , Tobio twisted around the courtyard aggressively, fighting for control of the arrows. The arrow demon desperately fought against Tobio, strengthening the directional flow of the arrows. This backfires, as Tobio gains more speed and traction, guiding the arrows closer to the arrow demon. When he finally realizes what he’s done, the arrow demon is unable to stop it. 

With one final push in his legs, Tobio hops into the air, his body parallel to the ground. The arrows may have disappeared, but he had more than enough speed and power to slice right through the arrow demon’s head. ‘Breath of Water, Improved Second Form: Lateral Water Wheel!’

Tobio wasn’t able to make a safe landing and slid across the ground. He heard a loud pop when he had hit the ground, and immediately a throbbing pain was building up in his left arm. He saw the arrow demon’s body dissolve, but to his shock the head was not dissolving as quickly.

“You-You stupid brat! I swear if I’ll bring you down with me!” Shunki screamed, and his eyes opened for the first time. Multiple arrows appeared on Tobio’s body, and once again he was being thrashed around the courtyard; only this time, he couldn’t wield his sword as well. He was thrown into the house wall, the courtyard wall, stopping midair in multiple places, before he was once again brought high in the air. Tobio gasped as he realized he couldn’t break his fall because at this point, he could barely grip his sword. 

_ BANG _

Tobio’s body freefalled from the air, but he was caught by his reliable senior, Ryuu. Ryuu glared at the spot where the arrow demon’s head was, his gun smoking. He looked down at Tobio concerned, attempting to lay him on the ground.

As Tobio opened his mouth to protest, Ryuu hushed him. “You did a great job Tobio, but I’m very sure that you are in no shape to fight the temari demon.” Breathing heavily, Tobio weakly pointed towards the sounds of chimes. Ryuu sighed with a smile on his face, helping Tobio over to where Tsutomu was.

Tsutomu was trying his best to fight against the temari demon, however his Blood Demon Art was on its last ends. The temari demon most likely had a feeling, and created another gust. Tsutomu looked around the dirt in the air, but he thought it was too late when he heard the temari ball’s chime. The ball was right in front of his face when Shouyou came in and kicked it out of the way.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?” Tsutomu gawked at not only his regenerated leg, but Shouyou’s apparent lack of danger awareness. “You need to be more careful or else you’ll actually get killed!”

Shouyou merely saw his little sister’s teary eyes, and he reached up to pet Tsutomu’s head. While the other demon sputtered and blushed, the temari demon was annoyed by Shouyou’s presence.

“Coming in for another round? I’ll destroy more than your leg this time!” Takeru shouted as he kicked the temari ball to Shouyou, but was shocked at how easily the boy kicked it back. Takeru kicked it again, but with more strength and the two viciously kicked the ball back and forth between each other.

Misaki appeared beside Tsutomu while the two demons fought. 

“Misaki-sama, what kind of serum did you give him?”

“...All I gave him was a regenerative booster, nothing else.” As the boy beside her softly gasped, Misaki’s eyes were set on Shouyou. “Right now, what we’re seeing is the strength of a demon who refuses to eat humans.”

Shouyou’s veins were popping out from his body as he put an intense amount of concentration in kicking the temari ball back at the demon. The ball was rapidly spinning but in the end Shouyou kicked it straight through the courtyard wall, effectively breaking through Tsutomu and Misaki’s ward spell. Everyone, aside from Misaki, was shocked at Shouyou’s performance.

‘Yes, a demon who refuses to eat humans is rather rare and they do not last long, but the rate at which he gained strength is perplexing. It’s almost like that man from so many centuries ago.’ Misaki thought to herself, but she knew that Shouyou would reach a limit tonight. ‘I’ll have to cast a spell, but thankfully the three demon slayers are far enough away from us.’

Takeru cracked his neck. “Finally got my warm up in, but are you ready to get pummeled?”

“Just wait a minute.” Misaki intervened, stepping in front of Shouyou. “You said you needed the hanafuda boy, so why would you continue to challenge him?”

“Isn’t that obvious? He’s competition for me. After all, our lord may want to offer him a position as one of the Twelve Demon Moons.” 

“And you would selfishly risk your chances just because someone else has the potential to take your spot?” Misaki scoffed, the aroma of flowers growing stronger. “You are just like your master, weak, selfish, and sly.”

“How dare you! Our lord is a powerful demon, the first and most powerful demon in the world!” 

“Is that so? Then why do demons fight amongst each other rather than against him? Have you ever thought of that?” When Takeru couldn’t produce any comeback, Misaki continued. “If demons worked together, they could do anything, like humans. But why don’t they? It’s because he’s a coward. He knows he’ll lose if all of his Demon Moons turn on him, and just like that, the great Demon King is dead.”

Takeru shook his head back and forth, clutching it. “You’re wrong! You’re wrong! My lord is the strongest being alive and he will reign on top of everyone in the world! Lord Takeda is not a coward!” Upon uttering the last sentence, Takeru dropped his temari balls and covered his mouth.

Tsutomu immediately ran over to Ryuu and Tobio, shoving handkerchiefs onto their faces.

“You’ve realized what you’ve done right? Once you say his name, even if it’s incomplete or a whisper, it’ll activate the curse.” Misaki’s left arm was raised, the sweet aroma of honey crawling through the area. As Takeru paled even further, Misaki couldn’t help but look on in sorrow. “Casting this spell is especially cruel to someone like you. But while I do pity you, this is goodbye.”

Takeru ran to the edge of the courtyard, wailing in fear. “Forgive me my lord! I didn’t mean it! I didn’t mean it!—“ 

Everyone watched as his body shifted in color, from the grayish pink into a rotten red. Three large arms erupted from his body in the next second, two in his torso and one from his mouth. Shouyou had fallen asleep, however Tsutomu, Ryuu, and Tobio looked on in horror as the arm from his mouth crushed his skull. The next few minutes were the most excruciatingly uncomfortable moments of their life as the arms tore and crushed the temari demon’s body until all that was left of him was his blood and his temari ball.

Misaki knelt beside the remains with a syringe in hand, extracting some blood. “These two demons do not compare to what the Lower Demon Moons can do, however their blood with aid in my research.”

‘Not even the lower moons?!’ Ryuu and Tobio thought simultaneously.

“I’ll be heading inside, the sun is rising.” That was the last thing Misaki said as she and Tsutomu hurried inside.

“Mari.”

The pair looked around as they heard a young boy’s voice.

“Mari.”

Tobio looked at the temari ball near the both of them and picked it up. He walked over to where the temari demon’s blood was and gently placed it next to it.

“Play with me. Play with me.”

The voice softly chanted before it faded as the sun shined. Ryuu and Tobio watched as the blood and the temari ball disappeared, not a single trace left in the world. Tobio pressed his hands together and softly prayed for the temari demon before getting up and looking for his stuff. Ryuu went inside the house and into the basement.

“Where did you guys go?” Tobio called after getting his haori and his sword. He heard Tsutomu bark at him from a closed door, and he followed it into the basement where he saw the group. Shouyou immediately runs up to him and hugs him tightly. Tobio pets his head and they walk further in where he sees Yuu breathing into a pipe. 

“It’s only temporarily, until I can create a cure for the black puddle.” Misaki explained and Tobio nodded. “I will commend you for fighting against those demons today. I know it’s not what you expected at all, but thank you for protecting us.”

Ryuu and Tobio nodded. “It’s our duty as Demon Slayers, Misaki-san.”

Misaki was about to say something else when Shouyou lunged at her and gave her a big hug, which shocked everyone. Tsutomu seemed rather upset until Shouyou tried to pet his head, flustering and annoying him.

“I was going to ask you Tobio, but Shouyou was acting rather strange even before you got here.” 

“Ah, no, he’s naturally friendly. He most likely sees you as his family.” Tobio explained, but still confused the other two demons. 

“But I thought he saw humans as family? We’re demons.” Tsutomu attempted to speak as he tried to swat Shouyou’s hand away. “Stop that!”

“Well maybe he doesn’t think you’re demons to him, since you guys don’t have the same scent as the Demon King.” Tobio scratched his cheek as he continued to think. “But really, Shouyou is very—“ Misaki began to cry when Tobio noticed her expression, and immediately he tried to get Shouyou off of her. “I’m sorry Misaki-san, Shouyou let go of her!”

“Tobio I swear if you don’t get that runt off of Misaki-sama!” Tsutomu barked, but backed off when Misaki placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Thank you Shouyou.” She softly wept, returning Shouyou’s hug. Everyone in the basement relaxed and after Misaki regained her composure, she looked to Tobio. “I know this is a sudden question, but if you’d like I could take Shouyou in. It’s quite dangerous out there for him, and I’m willing to take him with us when we leave Asakusa.”

Tobio thought over the offer, because it would mean Shouyou would be safer. But it means they would part ways. His attention was caught when there was a tug on his hand and Shouyou was standing across from him. Shouyou was staring intensely into his eyes, tightly gripping his hand. Tobio released a breath he didn’t know he held, looking at Misaki.

“I believe he understands it’s dangerous, but if Shouyou wants to stay with me, I’ll protect him.” Tobio could see Tsutomu breath a sigh of relief behind Misaki, and he chuckled. Ryuu waved his hand to catch their attention and beckoned them over. 

Ryuu looked quite nervous, but kept eye contact with the pair. “Tobio and Shouyou, I believe I owe you both an apology.” 

Shouyou made a small noise of confusion, and Tobio was also confused. “What do you mean?”

“Throughout our whole journey since Kyoto, I’ve been completely suspicious of you both. From both battles, I’ve realized that you really were telling the truth Tobio. Shouyou has not and most likely will never hurt humans, and Yuu and I will support the both of you on your journey to turn him back into a human.” Ryuu bowed and Tobio frantically tried to get him to sit straight again.

Yuu removed the pipe from his mouth and picked up his sword. He called over Shouyou, who sat beside him and patted his damp hair. Yuu softly laughed and took the boy’s hand, placing it on top of his sword. When Shouyou tried to remove his hand, Yuu kept gently squeezing his hand. Shouyou’s eyes were glossy as he hugged Yuu tightly, nuzzling his head against the demon slayer. 

Misaki and Tsutomu tended to Tobio’s wounds while Ryuu and Yuu played with Shouyou. According to Misaki, Tobio had several broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder from his fight with the arrow demon. Misaki wanted to keep Ryuu and Yuu a little longer in order to treat Yuu.

“Good luck on your journey Tobio.” Misaki smiled at Tobio, who was gathering his belongings (Shouyou and the box). “We’ll send Nekomata when you obtain samples.”

“Thank you Misaki-san.” Tobio gritted as he struggled to shove Shouyou into the box. He finally shut the box and laid on top of it, as Shouyou angrily scratched the box. His right arm was in a sling, so the journey was going to be slightly inconvenienced. As he finally made his way to the basement entrance, Tsutomu caught his attention.

“Your friend is not that bad.” Tsutomu huffed and looked to the side. Everyone in the basement smiled and Tobio waved goodbye to them.

“You know Tsutomu? I could always send you to go with him. You need more friends after all.” Misaki said cheekily.

“Misaki-sama!” 

  
  
  


“Go west! Go west! Go to the Wisteria House!” His crow nagged him as Tobio tiredly followed it down the dirt paths. The crow pecked Tobio’s head to get him to move faster.

Tobio was too tired to shoo his crow away until he heard a shrill voice that caused his crow to hide in his arms. Tobio whipped his head around to see four people on the side of the road, two of whom were wearing Demon Slayer uniforms. Tobio moved his mask to cover his face and snuck up on the group.

“Please take me back Runa, I’m sorry!” The man wailed as he clung to her waist. Another person, whom Tobio could not see their face, was trying to get the man away from the woman named Runa.

Runa, on the other hand, was hitting the man with her hand. “You cheated on me you scummy lowlife! Leave me alone!” The fourth person was holding her back, frantically telling her to calm down. Tobio recognized the person from the final selection, the boy with freckles. 

“Ma’am just get away from here and we’ll deal with this man.” The freckled boy pleaded as he tried to separate them. He yelped as the woman tried to lunge out of his arms to continue hitting the other man.

Tobio did the first thing that came to mind, which was separating the man and the woman. He grabbed the man’s shoulder and shoved him. The other man successfully restrained the still-whining man on the ground.

“Sir, with all do respect, go away.” Tobio blatantly stated as the Demon Slayer released the man from his grip. The man yelled and ran off like a puppy with its tail in between his legs. The Demon Slayer dusted off

his uniform and Tobio finally saw his “face”. “Motoya-san?”

“Oh? Hey Tobio!” Motoya cheerfully waved at his junior, his purple fox mask adorned over his face; he stopped as he quietly pointed behind Tobio. 

Runa seethed as she marched up to them, the freckled boy trying to pull her away. “How dare you all interfere! I still had a lot more to say to that man!”

“I’m sorry ma’am, but we were trying to find a way to stop the disturbance.” Motoya reasoned, but the woman held her fan in front of his face.

“GUARDS! HELP ME!” Runa screeched and the Demon Slayers could hear rustling from all around them. 

Grabbing their arms, Motoya whispered one word.

“Run.”

The three dashed off into the forest, and Tobio’s messenger crow flew into the air. They followed the crow through the forest, avoiding the guards and screaming as arrows were being shot at them. 

The guards followed them for several hours, and the group ended up in front of a massive mansion. They rapidly knocked on the door as they sensed the guards gaining on them. A small old woman opened the door, a gentle gleam as she smiled at them.

“Hello, welcome to the Wisteria House.” The little woman looked up at them, and opened the door wider to let them in. As she shut the door, several arrows were shot at the door.

The group collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily as they were relieved they escaped. 

“Oh? More people?” They looked over to see a blond boy with glasses. Once again, Tobio recognized the boy from the final selection. “Tadashi? What are you doing here?” 

“My sparrow told me to go here, and his”—pointing at Tobio—“messenger crow guided us here.”

Motoya caught his breath, clutching his sides. “You know him Tadashi?” 

“Yes, we worked together during the final selection.” Tadashi explained, and Tobio could smell an underlying relief and happiness whenever Tadashi looked at the blond boy. Tadashi approached Tobio and outstretched his left hand. “I think I remember you, but my name is Yamaguchi Tadashi.”

Tobio moved his mask to the side of his head, and shook Tadashi’s hand. “Kageyama Tobio, we were in the same final selection group.”

Tadashi looked between him and Motoya. “Your fox masks are really nice.”

“Thank you.” Tobio stiffly replied and Motoya giggled as he patted his junior’s back. 

The blond boy joined them and introduced himself. “Tsukishima Kei, nice to meet you.”

Motoya awed and had flowers floating around him. “Oh my gosh you’re Kei? Kenjirou told me all about you in his letter!”

“Really? What did he say?”

“He said you were a pain in the ass that was stubbornly angry about everything. But I’m not surprised hearing that because Kenjirou has always been a little over dramatic.” While Motoya laughed and waved his hand, Kei stiffened in annoyance and Tadashi nervously laughed. 

‘The smell of pure anger and annoyance is astounding.’ Tobio thought to himself, adjusting the box.

The little woman patiently waited for them to collect themselves and guided them to a room with some clothing. After changing, the woman guided them to a room with food. While eating Tobio noticed that Motoya kept his mask on, only moving it to reveal his mouth. Tobio kept his mask on the side of his head, but he could feel Kei and Tadashi staring at the two of them. 

After eating, the woman took them to separate rooms, Kei and Tadashi in one while Tobio and Motoya in the other. She told them that a doctor would be coming in the morning to check up on them, and with that she left for the night.

Tobio placed the box, as well as his mask, in the corner and rolled out the futons. Motoya took his mask off and placed it near his sword. 

“How was your first mission Tobio?” Motoya quietly asked as he helped Tobio.

“It didn’t end well.” Tobio answered honestly, his mind flashing to his seniors. “The demons got away.”

Motoya was quiet for a moment. “That’s shocking, but you were able to save lives right?” 

“Yes, the demons will most likely not approach that area again.” 

“That’s good.”

The silence was awkward as it was deafening, until Motoya shocked Tobio.

“I see you have Yuu’s sword.”

Tobio was unsure of how to respond to that and he continued to air out the blanket. “Yes, he got injured during the mission and gave it to me.”

Motoya hummed, stopping his movements suddenly. “I know.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve always known.” Motoya eerily admitted, not looking at Tobio. “I’ve known since the very beginning too.”

Tobio didn’t know why, but he felt incredibly tense. “What do you mean, Motoya-san?”

When Motoya finally looked at Tobio, he felt like something was staring straight into his soul. “Yuu and I are close, not as close as him and Ryuu, but we trust each other. And Ukai doesn’t keep secrets from his students either, because we trust each other.”

“Motoya-san what are you trying to tell me?”

“I’m trying to say that you can trust me too.” 

It finally hit Tobio like a slap in the face.

“You know about Shouyou then?” Tobio slowly worded out, subtly moving in front of the box. 

“While I already have an idea of what he’s capable of, those two boys in the room over don’t know him. That being said, our senior, the current Water Pillar, wanted me to warn you that there's a rumor going around the higher-ups.”

“A rumor?”

Motoya whispered, looking around carefully. “The Corp has eyes everywhere Tobio, and while the higher-ups don’t know that it’s actually you, they know that someone in the Corp has broken one of its most sacred rules: ‘All demons must be slayed’.” 

Tobio gulped nervously and he looked behind to the box where Shouyou was sleeping. “I’m sorry that you, Sakusa-san, and our senior have to be dragged into this.”

“We’ve made our decisions Tobio, but what are you going to do now? How do you intend on fighting under our group while ironically fighting along the very being that we swore to eliminate?” Motoya’s voice intensified as he continued to stare down Tobio. “Everyone who came in contact with, or at least knows of his existence, are at risk of being killed.”

‘That means Ryuu-san, Yuu-san, Michiko-san, Keisuke-san, and so many more people.’ Tobio panicked as he thought of the many people who he’s met. He thought back to just that morning when Shouyou chose to stay with him, following him straight into his enemies’ lair. “I promised that I would always protect him, and I will stop him from hurting anyone that isn’t a demon. And if it comes down to it, I’ll take my life as well as his in forgiveness.” 

The tension around them lessened, however Motoya looked satisfied with the answer. “I’m glad to hear it then.”

“If I may ask, how long have you known about Shouyou?” 

Motoya nodded. “Ukai told us around the time he took you in. To be quite honest, we were both against it because of everything that’s happened in both of our lives. But when we learned that Kiyoomi would support you, we were surprised. Eventually we decided to judge you if you could survive the final selection. Ukai would send the three of us letters of your progress, as well as your friend’s progress. As time passed on, we still were stubborn until you had passed the final selection. We even heard that the demon who killed Ukai’s other students. I decided to pay a visit because I wanted to meet the student who did what we couldn’t.

“The day I met you, you were surrounded by many spiritual presences. But it wasn’t like any demon I’ve met, nor was it like mine, Kiyoomi’s, or any of our comrades in the corp. Those spirits are always cold and unsettling, because they are the presence of people who’ve lost their lives too quickly and want revenge or to move on. But the ones around you were warm, like a hearth made from a family’s hard work. The presence was even stronger in the back room where you kept your friend. I’ve never felt anything like it, and even now that ever present feeling is warm and welcoming.” Tobio could see Motoya relaxing as he continued to speak his mind and he too relaxed. 

“Shouyou is very fond of humans, as I’ve seen since bringing him with me for missions.” Tobio recalled and twiddled his fingers. “If I may, can I let Shouyou out of the box for a little while?”

Motoya made a small noise of surprise and straightened. “Sure? Just be quiet about it.”

Tobio nodded and unlocked the box’s door, moving back and waiting for Shouyou to come out. A few moments later the door creaked open, and tiny Shouyou crawled out. He stood up and grew to his actual size and smiling with his eyes, greeted Tobio. Tobio waved back and Motoya sheepishly looked from behind Tobio’s back. Shouyou, on the other hand, excitedly approached Motoya and stared up at him with eyes of pure happiness. 

“He must remember you from when you visited Ukai after my exam.” Tobio explained as Motoya stared down Shouyou. ‘He’s not scared, but I’m not sure what kind of smell this is.’

Shouyou swayed from side to side while examining Motoya, whose eyes followed the boy. After making several circles around him, Shouyou looked at Tobio and made muffled hums. He then reached up and held Motoya’s face, continuing to make happy noises.

  
  
  


In the room down the hall, Tadashi keenly listened to the conversation between the two water users. He stopped focusing once their voices got louder and laid in his futon.

“What were they talking about?” Kei asked, his eyes closed. 

“You and I were right about him, that boy Tobio.” Tadashi pulled the cover up to his nose. 

“So he’s really traveling with a demon?”

“Yes, but it looks like we’re right about that demon he’s with.”

“Can a demon really be different though? All demons think the same Tadashi.”

“You may be right, but you could also be wrong Kei, but we need the both of them for the next mission.”

“The next mission is going to be a dangerous one right? Kenjirou-san mentioned they’re sending a large group of Demon Slayers ahead of us just to be safe.”

“I hope that’s not going to be the case, because Motoya-san said they only send groups when a demon is classed a Demon Moon.”

“Demon Moon or not, I’ll beat it.” That was the last thing Kei said before falling asleep.

Tadashi was awake for a little longer, but his thoughts eventually faded as he fell asleep.

‘Even though the sound of the demon was the same as the demon from  **that** day, it sounded so gentle that I could cry if I got too close to it.’

  
  
  


Bonus:

  
  
  


Kageyama: The amount of injuries I had to receive this chapter astound me. I wouldn’t even get this many severe injuries in my entire volleyball career.

Hinata: But last chapter Tsutomu literally lost his head and I lost a leg this chapter if we’re trying to compare here. 

Kageyama: No we’re not trying to compare, but I’m saying that a dislocated arm is not going to be useful for a mission.

Hinata: You’re right, you’re right. However we need to get on with the Taisho secret.

Kageyama: The secret for this chapter is that no one but Ukai-san and Komori-san have seen the face of the Water Pillar.

Hinata: Why would he hide his face all the time? Does he have a scar? Is he self-conscious?

Kageyama: I have no clue, but maybe it’s the same reason Ukai-san wore a mask.

Hinata: Well we’re running out of time, but the next chapter is titled: Natagumo Mountain.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Other than the fact that I wanted to strangle my cousins, I also had a difficult time deciding what I wanted for this fic because it feels like the characters’ personalities are just written over the actual characters from KnY, or maybe I’m just stressing myself out too much. Whatever the case may be, I’m going to put my all into these next chapters because these chapters are the ones I was looking forward the most to (story wise)
> 
> Anyways, I honestly am excited for you guys to meet the pillars because the pillars honestly upped the KnY plot because they’re all so unique and cool and I—I love them so much?? I’m honestly rambling now and I hope you guys have a good day, buh-bye!

**Author's Note:**

> So this was sitting in my Google docs for like, two months, and I really wanted to write this story. One thing that I'm positive about though, is that this will end differently than how the actual Demon Slayer manga is ending. 
> 
> You guys can go harass me on Twitter and IG @happysnakey, so I'll leave that there.
> 
> See you in the next chapter!


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